Complications associated with the Esophageal-Tracheal Combitube in the pre-hospital setting.
OBJECTIVE
The Esophageal-Tracheal Combitube (Combitube) is widely used for the management of the airway during cardiopulmonary resuscitation in the pre-hospital setting. Although serious complications have been reported with the Combitube, there is a paucity of data relative to the frequency and nature of such complications. The objective of this retrospective study was to determine the incidence and the nature of complications associated to the Combitube in the pre-hospital setting.


METHODS
Since 1993, in the Quebec City Health Region, the basic life support treatment algorithm for emergency medical technicians has included the use of a Combitube as the primary airway device for management of all patients presenting with cardiac or respiratory arrest. The database of the emergency coordination services was searched for the period between 1993 and 2003 (2,981 patients). Only those patients who survived at least 12 hr were included. Medical records of these patients were reviewed to identify complications related to the use of the Combitube.


RESULTS
Two-hundred-eighty (280) patients were identified. Fifty-eight (58) patients (20.7%, confidence interval (CI)95%=16.0%-25.4%) presented 69 complications: aspiration pneumonitis (n=31), pulmonary aspiration (n=16), pneumothorax (n=6), upper airway bleeding (n=4), esophageal laceration (n=3), sc emphysema (n=2), esophageal perforation and mediastinitis (n=2), tongue edema (n=2), vocal cord injury (n=1), tracheal injury (n=1), and pneumomediastinum (n=1). Thirteen of these complications (12 patients, 4.3%, CI95%=2.0%-6.3%) were judged as most likely resulting from trauma associated with insertion of the Combitube.


CONCLUSIONS
The use of the Combitube in the pre-hospital setting is associated with a notable incidence of serious complications.
Vézina
Marie-Claude
MC
Département d'anesthésie-réanimation, Centre hospitalier affilié universitaire de Québec, Université Laval, Canada.
Trépanier
Claude A
CA
Nicole
Pierre C
PC
Lessard
Martin R
MR
D000368:Aged; D016887:Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation / Q000295:instrumentation; D004632:Emergency Medical Services / Q000379:methods; D004867:Equipment Design; D006323:Heart Arrest / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D017214:Laryngeal Masks / Q000009:adverse effects*; D008875:Middle Aged; D011792:Quebec; D012189:Retrospective Studies