Failure of Invasive Airway Placement on the First Attempt Is Associated With Progression to Cardiac Arrest in Pediatric Acute Respiratory Compromise

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to describe the proportion of acute respiratory compromise events in hospitalized pediatric patients progressing to cardiopulmonary arrest, and the clinical factors associated with progression of acute respiratory compromise to cardiopulmonary arrest. We hypothesized that failure of invasive airway placement on the first attempt (defined as multiple attempts at tracheal intubation, and/or laryngeal mask airway placement, and/or the creation of a new tracheostomy or cricothyrotomy) is independently associated with progression of acute respiratory compromise to cardiopulmonary arrest. DESIGN: Multicenter, international registry of pediatric in-hospital acute respiratory compromise. SETTING: American Heart Association's Get with the Guidelines-Resuscitation registry (2000-2014). PATIENTS: Children younger than 18 years with an index (first) acute respiratory compromise event. INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Of the 2,210 index acute respiratory compromise events, 64% required controlled ventilation, 26% had return of spontaneous ventilation, and 10% progressed to cardiopulmonary arrest. There were 762 acute respiratory compromise events (34%) that did not require an invasive airway, 1,185 acute respiratory compromise events (54%) with successful invasive airway placement on the first attempt, and 263 acute respiratory compromise events (12%) with failure of invasive airway placement on the first attempt. After adjusting for confounding variables, failure of invasive airway placement on the first attempt was independently associated with progression of acute respiratory compromise to cardiopulmonary arrest (adjusted odds ratio 1.8 [95% CIs, 1.2-2.6]). CONCLUSIONS: More than 1 in 10 hospitalized pediatric patients who experienced an acute respiratory compromise event progressed to cardiopulmonary arrest. Failure of invasive airway placement on the first attempt is independently associated with progression of acute respiratory compromise to cardiopulmonary arrest.