Tracheal Intubation by Attending Physicians in a U.S. Registry, 2016-2020: Analysis by PICU Participation in a Skills Maintenance Program and Fellowship Training.

OBJECTIVES: Tracheal intubation (TI) is a critical skill for PICU attending physicians to maintain. We hypothesize that attendings perform fewer TIs and have lower success rate in PICU programs with a Pediatric Critical Care Medicine (PCCM) fellowship. DESIGN: Retrospective study using the National Emergency Airway Registry for Children (NEAR4KIDS) from July 2016 to June 2020. Exposures were presence of PCCM fellowship and attending TI skill maintenance program (SMP). The primary outcome was attending's first attempt success and the secondary outcome was adverse airway outcome in the first attempt. SETTING: Thirty-three PICUs in North America. PATIENTS: Children receiving TI. INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Overall, 23 of 33 PICUs had a PCCM fellowship with three of 23 having an attending TI SMP. Attendings performed TI in 24.1% (2,728/11,323): 13.9% (13.8 TI/yr per PICU) in PICUs with a fellowship vs. 66.0% (36.6 TI/yr per PICU) without a fellowship (p < 0.001). Attending first attempt success in PICUs with vs. without fellowships was 70.5% vs. 81.3% (difference, 10.8% [95% CI, 7.6-14.0%]; p < 0.0001). After controlling for confounders, attendings in a PICU with a fellowship had lower odds for first attempt success (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 0.65 [95% CI, 0.47-0.90]). We failed to find an association between attending first attempt success and PICU program type, with vs. without a TI SMP (74.0% vs. 69.5%; p = 0.146). The adverse airway outcome rate of the TI with attending's first attempt was lower in PICU programs with vs. without a TI SMP (32.8% vs. 40.3%; p = 0.020). However, after adjusting for confounders, we failed to exclude the possibility of near halving of odds of adverse outcome (aOR, 0.75 [95% CI, 0.55-1.01]; p = 0.058). CONCLUSIONS: Attendings in PICU programs with a fellowship have fewer opportunities to perform TI and lower first attempt success rates. Opportunities exist for attending TI skill maintenance, especially in PICUs with a PCCM fellowship.

Duke Scholars

Author Palen Powelson Mallory Pediatrics, Critical Care Medicine