Endotracheal intubation practice from a pediatric emergency clinic of a tertiary hospital in Turkey

Aim: Airway management has primary importance to provide optimal ventilation and oxygenation in emergency services. Material and Methods: In the study, the resuscitation room records of patients aged 0-18 years in the pediatric emergency room of Healt Sciences University, Tepecik Education and Research Hospital between January 2017 and January 2020. We evaluated the patients who were admitted to the resuscitation room and underwent emergency or rapid sequential intubation. We compared the time elapsed from admission to the emergency room until the time of successful tracheal intubation in the resuscitation room.Results: The mean age of 111 patients in the study was 14.47 months (3.93-42.27), 65 (58.6%) of them were boys and 46 (41.1%) of them were girls. Nine (8.1%) patients were resuscitated outside the hospital and it continued in the resuscitation room. Successful tracheal intubation was achieved in 95 (85.5%) patients after the first attempt. Sedative or neuromuscular blocker agents were given to 71 (63.9%) patients before intubation and cardiopulmonary resuscitation was performed in only one of them. When the time elapsed from the time of admission until the patient was taken to the resuscitation room, vascular access was provided and successful intubation was achieved, there was no significant difference between working hours and out of working hours.Discussion: The intubation procedure, besides being a life-saving intervention, requires attention and care in terms of its risks and timing. It is very important to carry out the tracheal intubation procedure on time and the records should be kept properly and completely during the procedure.