Cardiac arrest is a predictor of difficult tracheal intubation independent of operator experience in hospitalized patients

Table 2 Comparison of all intubations based on initial airway technique

	All patients N = 420	DL N = 371	VL N = 49	P-value^a
Age in years, mean (SD)	58 (16)	58 (16)	56 (16)	0.58
Male, n (%)	293 (70)	265 (71)	28 (57)	0.04
BMI in kg.m⁻², median (IQR)	27 (23–33)	27 (23–33)	30 (23–35)	0.19
Initial glottic view, n (%)				0.06
Grade 1	291 (69)	257 (69)	34 (69)
Grade 2	97 (23)	90 (24)	7 (14)
Grade 3	25 (6)	19 (5)	6 (12)
Grade 4	7 (2)	5 (1)	2 (4)
Operator Experience, n (%)				0.32
Junior	129 (31)	117 (32)	12 (24)
Senior	291 (69)	254 (68)	37 (76)
First attempt success, n (%)	326 (78)	291 (78)	35 (71)	0.27
Complications, n (%)
Difficult intubation^b	25 (6)	21 (6)	4 (8)	0.49
Aspiration	7 (2)	7 (2)	0 (0)	0.33
Oesophageal intubation	5 (1)	4 (1)	1 (2)	0.56

DL: direct laryngoscopy; VL: videolaryngoscopy; SD: standard deviation; BMI: body mass index; IQR: interquartile range.
^aTwo sample t-test with assumption of unequal variance, Chi-square test or Wilcoxon rank sum test.
^bDifficult intubation is defined as ≥3 intubation attempts, >10 minutes in duration, or need for a surgical airway.

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