Background: GlideScope (GS) is used in pediatric endotracheal intubation (ETI) but requires a different technique compared to direct laryngoscopy (DL).
Purposes: This article was written to evaluate the efficacy of exploration-based learning on procedural performance using GS for ETI of simulated pediatric airways and establish baseline success rates and procedural duration using DL in airway trainers among pediatric providers at various levels.
Methods: Fifty-five pediatric residents, fellows, and faculty from Pediatric Critical Care, NICU, and Pediatric Emergency Medicine were enrolled. Nine physicians from Pediatric Anesthesia benchmarked expert performance. Participants completed a demographic survey and viewed a video by the GS manufacturer. Subjects spent 15 minutes exploring GS equipment and practicing the intubation procedure. Participants then intubated neonatal, infant, child, and adult airway simulators, using GS and DL, in random order. Time to ETI was recorded.
Results: Procedural performance after exploration-based learning, measured as time to successful ETI, was shorter for DL than for GS for neonatal and child airways at the.05 significance level. Time to ETI in adult airway using DL was correlated with experience level (p =.01). Failure rates were not different among subgroups.
Conclusions: A brief video and period of exploration-based learning is insufficient for implementing a new technology. Pediatricians at various levels of training intubated simulated airways faster using DL than GS.
Keywords: exploration-based learning; pediatric intubation; videolaryngoscopy.