In out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients, does a supraglottic airway device improve favorable functional outcome at 30 days compared with endotracheal intubation?

BEEM Bottom Line

Why is this study important?

The AIRWAYS-2 trial is the largest randomized controlled trial (RCT) of airway management in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). It compared paramedic use of the iGel supraglottic airway (SGA) to endotracheal intubation (ETI) in the United Kingdom (UK). Concerns with cardiac compression interruptions with ETI, and relatively high SGA success rate without cardiac compression interruptions lead to recommendations to consider SGAs. The relative superiority of ETI or SGAs had been debated, but there has been no direct RCT evidence to make an informed decision.

Which, if any, threats to validity are most likely to have an impact on the results and how?

Thank you for your interest in the BEEM Journal!

To read the rest of this article or to access the entire collection of BEEM Critical Appraisals, please purchase a subscription at the link below.

If you would like a pre-view, click here to view some sample articles

Premium Content Available Through Subscription

BEEM is a knowledge translation project which aims to extract the most recent, EM relevant, and valid evidence from the volumes of available medical research and deliver it to EM practitioners in an easily consumable format to help guide their clinical practice. This valuable distilled information provided by BEEM is available through BEEM's accredited CME courses or through our online journal.

A BEEM Journal Subscription will provide you with unlimited access to our entire collection of Critical Appraisals for 1 year.