Pilot Study on the Use of Video Laryngoscopy in Pre-hospital Settings (VIDEOPREHOSP)

Pilot Study on the Use of Video Laryngoscopy in Pre-hospital Settings: Evaluation of the Success Rate of Intubation on the First Attempt, Highlighting Criteria Specific to the Patient, the Practitioner and the Environment That May Influence This Rate.

Management of the upper airways is an essential skill in pre-hospital medicine in order to protect the respiratory tract and optimise ventilation and oxygenation. Orotracheal intubation remains the gold standard method in this context. In France, approximately 8% of primary SMUR interventions require intubation, representing 40,000 to 50,000 procedures per year, 30 to 40% of which are performed on patients in cardiorespiratory arrest.

Despite an overall success rate of nearly 99%, 8 to 15% of intubations are considered difficult and the success rate on the first attempt is only 77.8%. Difficult intubations expose patients to significant complications, including desaturation (nearly 50% of cases), haemodynamic disorders and, more rarely, cardiopulmonary arrest (3% of cases). Pre-hospital conditions (environment, access to the patient, trauma, secretions, etc.) increase these risks. As a result, recent recommendations now consider any emergency intubation outside the operating theatre to be potentially difficult.

The introduction of video laryngoscopy represents a major technological advance. Its superiority has been demonstrated in hospital settings, particularly for difficult intubations, and it is now recommended as the first-line treatment in this context. However, unlike in the United States, where several studies suggest that it is safer and more effective than direct laryngoscopy, there are no specific recommendations or French studies concerning its use in pre-hospital medicine.

Given these factors and the lack of national data, it seems appropriate to conduct an exploratory French study to assess the place, effectiveness, benefits and constraints of video laryngoscopy in a pre-hospital setting. Investigator hypothesises that the success rate for the first attempt at intubation using video laryngoscopy will be 74%.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Emergency; Orotracheal Intubation
• Intervention / Treatment: Device: Videolaryngoscopy in first attempt in prehospital with AirTraq

Detailed Description

This is a single-arm exploratory interventional study conducted at the Valenciennes Hospital Centre.

Firstly, practical training in video laryngoscopy has already been provided by Dr GOZE to doctors participating in the SMUR (mobile emergency and resuscitation service) at the Valenciennes Hospital Centre. In Appendix 1, the training certificates of the doctors who submitted their CVs during the initial application process have been included in the protocol. Any investigator wishing to participate in the study and include patients will be required to undergo training and submit an application to the CPP. A presentation of the study will also be given to practitioners.

Before the study is conducted, an explanatory sheet will be given to each practitioner, along with a questionnaire concerning their practice and experience of video laryngoscopy intubation.

From the start of the study, once authorisation has been granted by the CPP, all out-of-hospital intubations will be performed as a first-line treatment using a video laryngoscope, as required by the research protocol. If intubation fails on the first attempt, the practitioner will be free to choose whether to continue with the intubation technique of their choice.

A results sheet will be completed by the operator after each procedure. The results recorded will be: the outcome of the first intubation attempt (success or failure), and the criteria corresponding to the secondary criteria described above.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 143
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Alexandre ANDRIES, MD; Phone Number: 06.22.16.79.16; Email: andries-a@ch-valenciennes.fr

Study Locations

• France
  • Valenciennes, France, 59300
    • Recruiting
    • Centre Hospitalier de Valenciennes
    • Contact: Alexandre ANDRIES, MD

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

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

Description

Patient Inclusion Criteria:

• Age > 18 years
• Patients treated pre-hospital by a team from the Emergency Medical and Resuscitation Service (SMUR) at Valenciennes Hospital 2025-A02374-45_SUMMARY_v1.1 dated 04/12/2025 _VIDEOPREHOSP Page 3 of 4
• Patients whose condition requires pre-hospital orotracheal intubation
• Patient or relative who has given consent for inclusion
• Patient affiliated with a social security scheme

Pratician Inclusion Criteria :

• Practitioner at Valenciennes Hospital
• Practitioner who is part of the EMS team

Exclusion Criteria:

• Progressive pregnancy
• Theoretical indication for orotracheal intubation but patient refuses invasive care, considered in this situation to be futile medical care
• Insurmountable anatomical obstacle, in which case an emergency cricothyroidotomy or tracheotomy should be considered as the first line of treatment
• Patients under guardianship or curatorship
• Patients deprived of their liberty by court order

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Other
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Intervention / Treatment

Experimental: Experimental arm; All patients in a pre-hospital emergency situation for whom videolaryngoscopy was performed on the first attempt.

Device: Videolaryngoscopy in first attempt in prehospital with AirTraq; This is a single-centre study conducted at Valenciennes Hospital. Eligible patients will be those requiring intubation in a life-threatening emergency as part of standard care. During each SMUR intervention, patients will be assessed to determine their eligibility for the study, according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria previously defined in the protocol. This verification will be carried out by the practitioner in charge of pre-hospital care, before the intubation procedure is performed. The clinical data required for this assessment will be collected prospectively.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
The main objective of this exploratory study is to estimate the success rate of the first attempt at pre-hospital video laryngoscopy intubation.	The primary endpoint is the success rate of intubation on the first attempt. The endpoint analysed will be a binary measure (success: 1 / failure: 0) collected during the procedure.	immediately after orotracheal intubation

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Secondary objective N°1 : To study the correlation between patient-related constraints in the use of video laryngoscopy and the success/failure of the first intubation attempt.	The aim is therefore to study the main variable (success or failure of intubation on the first attempt) in relation to different variables that have different units of measurement. Constraints encountered during intubation related to the patient: Mouth opening: < 2 cm, between 2 and 3.5 cm, > 3.5 cm; Thyro-mental distance: < 5 cm, between 5 and 6.5 cm, > 6.5 cm; Cormack score: I/II, III/IV; Obesity (BMI > 30): Yes/No; Presence of secretions in the upper airways: Yes/No; Presence of cervical-facial trauma: Yes/No	immediately after orotracheal intubation
Secondary outcome N°2 : To investigate the correlation between the constraints of using video laryngoscopy in an out-of-hospital setting and the success/failure of the first intubation attempt	The aim is therefore to study the main variable (success or failure of intubation on the first attempt) in relation to different variables that have different units of measurement. Constraints encountered during intubation, related to the practitioner: Years of experience as an emergency physician; Number of successful intubations using video laryngoscopy: < 15, between 15 and 50, > 50	immediately after orotracheal intubation
Secondary objective N°3 : To investigate the correlation between the constraints of using video laryngoscopy in an out-of-hospital setting and the success/failure of the first intubation attempt	The aim is therefore to study the main variable (success or failure of intubation on the first attempt) in relation to different variables that have different units of measurement. Constraints encountered during intubation in an out-of-hospital setting: Patient position: On the ground or on a stretcher; Practitioner position: Lying down, kneeling, or standing; Bright light interfering with visibility on the video laryngoscope: Yes or No	Immediately after video laryngoscopy

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Centre Hospitalier de Valenciennes

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): January 2, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): December 2, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): December 2, 2026

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: January 6, 2026
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 3, 2026
• First Posted (Actual): June 5, 2026

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): June 5, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 3, 2026
• Last Verified: January 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: orotracheal intubation; videolaryngoscopy; pre-hospital; first attempt
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Pathologic Processes; Disease Attributes; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms; Emergencies
• Other Study ID Numbers: 2025-02-03

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