Critically ill patients in emergency department frequently require emergency airway management. This procedure in our ED is carried out by emergency medicine resident with rapid sequence intubation (RSI). This study investigates complications of tracheal intubation carried out in critically ill patients including: (1) hypoxemia and hypotension (2) aspiration and esophageal displacement (3) pneumothorax and right bronchus intubation.

Data were collected on consecutive intubations carried out by EM residents over a 29 months period. Between 195 patients only 100 patients had including criteria to enter this study. Also we compare the complications and success rate among three level of personnel carrying on the procedure.(first to third year of emergency medicine residency).

109 consecutive intubations were carried on in 100 patients. Oral translaryngeal intubation was done in all patients. Three intubations required more than 2 attempts and hypoxia occurred in 34 cases. Aspiration was diagnosed by direct vision in 5 cases. Hypotension was found in 5 cases causing death in 3 of them during the intubation or in 30 minutes following the procedure. Esophageal displacement occurred in 10 of the attempts but all were recognized and reintubated. Success rate between three personnel levels are as follow: in first year residency 82% and in second year residency 94% and in third year residency is 100% (p = 0.014).There was not a statistically significant difference among these three groups considering the complications but the success rate should a difference between level 1 and 3 (p = 0.936). Multiple attempts did not increase the rate of complications. Mortality were dependent to hypotension (p = 0.019) and age (p = 0.001).

In our study we did not find the results of RSI to be operator dependent as long as it was done by emergency residents. It is recommended to compare the results of RSI and non- RSI methods in a future.