Airway Management Skills Amongst Anesthesia Providers

May 29, 2026 updated by: Prisma Health-Upstate

The Proficiency and Efficiency of Airway Management Skills Amongst Anesthesia Providers: A Multicenter Baseline Assessment

The aim of this study is to evaluate the efficiency and proficiency of three common airway management techniques amongst among anesthesia providers who maintain airway management privileges in our health system.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Airway management may take place in a variety of settings with varying degrees of urgency, ranging from performance for elective operative procedures to life-threatening emergencies. An appropriate psychomotor skill set is needed to perform the procedures utilized for airway management, and the time required to do so may impact patient outcomes. Prolonged periods of apnea and accompanying hypoxia can lead to brain damage or death. This research is designed to evaluate the proficiency of anesthesia providers who are responsible for practicing airway management in hospitals or health systems in the United States, including Anesthesiologists, Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists, and Anesthesiology Assistants. We are attempting to establish a baseline level of proficiency by quantifying the time it takes to achieve successful airway management and the number of attempts required to do so utilizing a high fidelity manikin programmed to simulate various physiological conditions. This baseline information could then be used to manage the decisions made by hospitals or health systems related to airway management in the future, or to redefine the policies and procedures established for performing these procedures.

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment (Actual)

62

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • South Carolina
      • Greenville, South Carolina, United States, 29605
        • Prisma Health

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Child
  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

All employees of the respective anesthesia departments employed by Prisma Health will be offered participation in this study including: anesthesiologists (previously completed anesthesiology residency), certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNA), and anesthesia assistants (AA).

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Informed consent is obtained from the participant
  • Participants are presently employed as an anesthesiologist (previously completed an anesthesiology residency), CRNA or AA at a participating institution
  • Participants have active airway management privileges with their institution

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Participants are not employed by their institution
  • Refusal of the participant to sign a consent

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Observational Models: Case-Crossover
  • Time Perspectives: Cross-Sectional

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort
Intervention / Treatment
Anesthesiology providers
Group will contain anesthesiologists, CRNA and AAs. The type of healthcare professional participating will be recorded along with the years of experience the participant has. Each participants experience will be categorized into three ranges, 0-3 years, 3-10 years, and 10+ years of experience. For further clarification and analysis, the healthcare professional's normal practice setting will also be recorded including inpatient, outpatient, or hybrid (inpatient and outpatient) settings. All providers will be analyzed together.
Procedure: Direct Laryngoscopy
The participant will perform a direct laryngoscopy on a Laerdal SimMan 3G under healthy conditions and under limited cervical range of motion.
Procedure: Laryngeal Mask Airways
The participant will perform LMA placement on a Laerdal SimMan 3G under healthy conditions and under full tongue edema.
Procedure: Video Laryngoscopy
The participant will perform video laryngoscopy on a Laerdal SimMan 3G under healthy conditions and under half tongue edema with pharyngeal obstruction.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Number of Attempts to Achieve Successful Airway Management
Time Frame: Immediate Post-Procedure
A successful attempt for any of the three procedures will be documented when a participant attaches a bag/valve and attempts a ventilation resulting in the presence of end-tidal carbon dioxide (which will be displayed when the device is properly placed). Failed attempts for any of the three procedures will be documented when a participant attaches a bag/valve device and attempts ventilation for purposes of confirming the presence of end-tidal carbon dioxide (which will not be displayed if the device is improperly placed). Three sequential failed attempts will result in a failure to achieve successful airway management.
Immediate Post-Procedure
Time Required to Achieve Successful Airway Management
Time Frame: Immediate Post-Procedure
Time will be measured manually via stopwatch. Time measurement for all three procedures will begin when the participant picks up the laryngoscope, video laryngoscope, or LMA having signaled his/her intention to begin the procedure. Time measurement will end upon detection of end-tidal carbon dioxide by the mannikin as evidenced on a standard patient monitor connected to the mannikin for this purpose. Time measurement will continue during failed attempts and subsequent efforts to successfully perform the procedure. Time measurement will be stopped upon successful end-tidal carbon dioxide measurement, three sequential failed attempts to perform a procedure, or after a total of five minutes have passed.
Immediate Post-Procedure

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Prisma Health-Upstate

Collaborators

Vanderbilt University

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Robert R. Morgan, MD, Prisma Health-Upstate

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

October 22, 2021

Primary Completion (Actual)

November 13, 2025

Study Completion (Actual)

November 13, 2025

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

September 14, 2021

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 14, 2021

First Posted (Actual)

September 24, 2021

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

June 2, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 29, 2026

Last Verified

May 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • Pro00104249

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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