NCT02416219

Efficacy of Surface Landmark Palpation for Identification of the Cricoid Cartilage in Obstetric Patients

• Status: Completed
• Phase: —
• Study type: Observational
• Enrollment: 90 (actual)
• Sponsor: London Health Sciences Centre Research Institute OR Lawson Research Institute of St. Joseph's · Academic / Other
• Sex: Female
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

Rapid Sequence Induction (RSI), with cricoid pressure is advocated for all obstetric patients undergoing general anesthesia. Applying cricoid pressure correctly is crucial to prevent aspiration. Using Ultrasound guidance we will be assessing the ability of different disciplines of caregivers to correctly localize the cricoid cartilage in obstetric patients by anatomical landmark palpation.

Detailed description

Obstetric patients coming for elective cesarean delivery will be recruited for the study. Informed consent will be obtained from the patient. The participant (anesthesiologist, resident, nurse, or RT) will mark the center of the cricoid cartilage with the patient in the sniffing position, using fluorescent "invisible" ink. Another anesthesiologist who is expert in using ultrasound will find the proximal and distal margins of the cricoid cartilage an will draw a line at the middle of the 2 margins. Evaluation of the participant's assessment will be considered accurate if it falls within 5 mm from the ultrasound's measured line .The assessor will also be asked to score the ease of cricoid cartilage palpation between 1 to 10 using a visual analog scoring (VAS) scale. Total time taken for palpation will also be measured.

Conditions

• Aspiration Pneumonia

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
PROCEDURE	Cricoid pressure	participants will ask to mark the place where they will apply cricoid pressure if the patients was undergoing rapid sequence induction. US will be used to confirm how accurate they are in their estimation.
DEVICE	Ultrasound

Timeline

• Start date: 2015-05-01
• Primary completion: 2016-02-01
• Completion: 2016-03-01
• First posted: 2015-04-14
• Last updated: 2016-03-03

Locations

1 site across 1 country: Canada