SynthesisScandinavian journal of trauma, resuscitation and emergency medicine2015
Is the supine position associated with loss of airway patency in unconscious trauma patients? A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Scandinavian journal of trauma, resuscitation and emergency medicine, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT06236971 (Effect of Lateral Positions on the Shape of Upper Airway Under Sedation), which is not on this map. Cited by 14 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Effect of Lateral Positions on the Shape of Upper Airway Under Sedation
Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- New clinical guidelines on the spinal stabilisation of adult trauma patients - consensus and evidence based.Scandinavian journal of trauma, resuscitation and emergency medicine · 2019Guideline
- The Norwegian guidelines for the prehospital management of adult trauma patients with potential spinal injury.Scandinavian journal of trauma, resuscitation and emergency medicine · 2017Pooled it
- Does turning trauma patients with an unstable spinal injury from the supine to a lateral position increase the risk of neurological deterioration?--A systematic review.Scandinavian journal of trauma, resuscitation and emergency medicine · 2015Pooled it
- Heads Down for Acute Stroke: Supine Position for Acute Large Vessel Occlusion in Ischemic Stroke.Clinical case reports · 2026Article
- Left Head Rotation as an Alternative to Difficult Tracheal Intubation: Randomized Open Label Clinical Trial.Interactive journal of medical research · 2023Article
- Evaluating prehospital care of patients with potential traumatic spinal cord injury: scoping review.European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2022Article
- The prevention of pressure injuries in the positioning and mobilization of patients in the ICU: a good clinical practice document by the Italian Society of Anesthesia, Analgesia, Resuscitation and Intensive Care (SIAARTI).Journal of anesthesia, analgesia and critical care · 2022Article
- [Paediatric Life Support].Notfall & rettungsmedizin · 2021Review
- Development of the Aerial Remote Triage System using drones in mass casualty scenarios: A survey of international experts.PloS one · 2021Article
- Multiple trauma management in mountain environments - a scoping review : Evidence based guidelines of the International Commission for Mountain Emergency Medicine (ICAR MedCom). Intended for physicians and other advanced life support personnel.Scandinavian journal of trauma, resuscitation and emergency medicine · 2020Article
- Implementation of new guidelines in the prehospital services: a nationwide survey of Norway.Scandinavian journal of trauma, resuscitation and emergency medicine · 2019Article
- Scandinavian SSAI clinical practice guideline on pre-hospital airway management.Acta anaesthesiologica Scandinavica · 2016Review
- Safety of the lateral trauma position in cervical spine injuries: a cadaver model study.Acta anaesthesiologica Scandinavica · 2016Article
- A randomised controlled trial to compare tracheal extubation quality in lateral and supine positions after general anaesthesia in children.Journal of anaesthesiology, clinical pharmacologyArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAirway compromise is a leading cause of death in unconscious trauma patients. Although endotracheal intubation is regarded as the gold standard treatment, most prehospital providers are not trained to perform ETI in such patients. Therefore, various lateral positions are advocated for unconscious patients, but their use remains controversial in trauma patients. We conducted a systematic review to investigate whether the supine position is associated with loss of airway patency compared to the lateral position.
methodsThe review protocol was published in the PROSPERO database (Reg. no. CRD42012001190). We performed literature searches in PubMed, Medline, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, CINAHL and British Nursing Index and included studies related to airway patency, reduced level of consciousness and patient position. We conducted meta-analyses, where appropriate. We graded the quality of evidence with the GRADE methodology. The search was updated in June 2014.
resultsWe identified 1,306 publications, 39 of which were included for further analysis. Sixteen of these publications were included in meta-analysis. We did not identify any studies reporting direct outcome measures (mortality or morbidity) related to airway compromise caused by the patient position (lateral vs. supine position) in trauma patients or in any other patient group. In studies reporting only indirect outcome measures, we found moderate evidence of reduced airway patency in the supine vs. the lateral position, which was measured by the apnea/hypopnea index (AHI). For other indirect outcomes, we only found low or very low quality evidence.
conclusionsAlthough concerns other than airway patency may influence how a trauma patient is positioned, our systematic review provides evidence supporting the long held recommendation that unconscious trauma patients should be placed in a lateral position.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.