Prospective Evaluation of Foreign Body Airway Obstruction Interventions Among Adults and Children

Prospective Evaluation of Foreign Body Airway Obstruction Interventions Among Adults and Children: A Non-randomized Pilot Cohort Study

Foreign body airway obstruction (FBAO, choking) is a life-threatening emergency requiring time-sensitive treatment to prevent severe injury or deaths. Traditional treatments taught in first aid courses include abdominal thrusts, back blows, and chest compressions or thrusts. Currently, first aid guidelines recommend different treatments for adults, child and infants.

Until recently, data on these techniques was limited to case series from the late 1900's. To further improve our knowledge of which treatment is most effective and safest for patients, this study will collect data on choking incidents in Alberta, Canada. The first phase of this project will make sure identifying and recruiting choking patients in real-time is possible so that the highest quality of data can be collected. If successful, this study will support a future project where the different choking treatments are compared in terms of their effectiveness and safety. This study will focus on adults and children over the age of 2 years.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Foreign Body Airway Obstruction
• Intervention / Treatment: Procedure: Chest compressions/thrusts; Procedure: Back blows; Procedure: Abdominal thrust

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Estimated): 80

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Cody Dunne, MD; Phone Number: 1-403-944-1818; Email: cody.dunne@ucalgary.ca

Study Locations

• Canada
  • Alberta
    • Calgary, Alberta, Canada
      • Recruiting
      • Virtual
      • Contact: Cody Dunne, MD; Phone Number: 000-000-0000; Email: cody.dunne@ucalgary.ca

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Child; Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

• Sampling Method: Probability Sample

Study Population

Adult or children (aged greater than 2 years) who experienced an out-of-hospital FBAO and received a FBAO intervention while conscious in Alberta, Canada, and, subsequently, were assessed by EMS or at an emergency department

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Adult or children (aged greater than 2 years) who experienced an out-of-hospital FBAO in Alberta, Canada
• Received a FBAO intervention while conscious by bystander or healthcare provider
• Were assessed by EMS at the time of the incident, or later attended an emergency department due to the incident

Exclusion Criteria:

• Patients with abnormal airway anatomy such as a tracheostomy.
• Patients who were unconscious when they received the initial FBAO intervention

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Number of groups / cohorts

1

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort	Intervention / Treatment
Adults or children with FBAO; Adults or children (aged greater than 2 years) with a foreign body airway obstruction who are conscious when they receive their first intervention	Procedure: Chest compressions/thrusts; Chest compressions or thrusts received as first intervention; Procedure: Back blows; Back blows received as first intervention; Procedure: Abdominal thrust; Abdominal thrust received as first intervention

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Eligible patient recruitment	Count of eligible patients recruited per month	Through study completion, a 6 month period

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Proportion of eligible patients recruited	Among patients who screen as eligible for recruitment, the proportion of those who are successfully recruited	Through study completion, a 6 month period
Proportion of recruited patients with satisfactory data collection	Among patients successfully recruited, the those patients with >= 90% of desired variables collected	Through study completion, a 6 month period
Foreign body airway obstruction relief	Defined as: responders determining that the patient did not require further FBAO intervention due to improvement or resolution of their respiratory distress in a conscious patient, or the ability for a responder to successfully ventilate an unconscious patient when previously they were unable to due to obstruction	Day 1
Survival to acute care discharge	Defined as discharge from the care of Emergency Medical Services(EMS) or paramedics, the emergency department, or the hospital.	From date of enrolment until the date of acute care discharge or date of death from any cause, whichever came first, assessed up to 3 month
Survival to acute care discharge with favourable neurological outcome	Defined as the patient being able to be discharge to the home environment that they previously lived, with the ability to perform the same activities of daily living as before the FBAO incident	From date of enrolment until the date of acute care discharge or date of death from any cause, whichever came first, assessed up to 3 month
Intervention-associated injuries	Listed summary of any injuries reported among patient recruited for study occurring as a result of the FBAO intervention as determined by the treating physician/care provider	From date of enrolment until the date of acute care discharge or date of death from any cause, whichever came first, assessed up to 3 month

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Calgary
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Cody Dunne, MD, University of Calgary

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): November 1, 2025
• Primary Completion (Estimated): April 30, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): June 1, 2026

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: September 29, 2025
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 15, 2026
• First Posted (Actual): January 26, 2026

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): January 26, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 15, 2026
• Last Verified: January 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Feasibility study; Prospective cohort study; Choking; Adults and children
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Respiratory Tract Diseases; Respiration Disorders; Respiratory Insufficiency; Airway Obstruction; Therapeutics; Emergency Treatment; Heimlich Maneuver
• Other Study ID Numbers: REB25-0419A

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