Appropriate documentation of confirmation of endotracheal tube position and relationship to patient outcome from in-hospital cardiac arrest.

OBJECTIVES

To determine the rate of appropriate documentation of endotracheal tube (ET) position confirmation in the American Heart Association's Get With the Guidelines-Resuscitation (GWTG-R) and to determine whether outcomes of patients who experience in-hospital cardiac arrest differ in relation to documentation rate.

DESIGN

Analysis of data from the GWTG-R, a prospective observational registry of in-hospital cardiac arrest and resuscitation.

SETTING

Database containing clinical information from the 507 hospitals participating in the GWTG-R.

PATIENTS

Adults resuscitated after in-hospital cardiac arrest.

MEASUREMENTS

The rate of appropriate documentation of ET position confirmation, defined as the use of capnography or an esophageal detector device (EDD); relationship between appropriate documentation of ET position confirmation and return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) or survival to hospital discharge. Proportions with 95% CI are reported for prevalence data. Binary logistic regression was used to determine the relationship between appropriate documentation of ET position confirmation and outcome (ROSC, survival to hospital discharge). Adjusted and unadjusted odds ratios are reported.

MAIN RESULTS

Of the 176,054 patients entered into the GWTG-R database, 75,777 had an ET placed. For 13,263 (17.5%) of these patients, ET position confirmation was not documented in the chart. Auscultation alone was documented in 19,480 (25.7%) cases. Confirmation of ET position by capnography or EDD was documented in 43,034 (56.8%) cases. ROSC occurred in 39,063 (51.6%), and 13,474 (17.8%) survived to discharge. Patients whose ET position was confirmed by capnography or EDD were more likely to have ROSC (adjusted OR 1.229 [1.179, 1.282]) and to survive to hospital discharge (adjusted OR 1.093 [1.033, 1.157]).

CONCLUSION

Documentation of ET position confirmation in patients who experience cardiac arrest is suboptimal. Appropriate documentation of ET position confirmation in the GWTG-R is associated with greater likelihood of ROSC and survival to hospital discharge.