SynthesisBMC anesthesiology2020
Complications of cricothyroidotomy versus tracheostomy in emergency surgical airway management: a systematic review.
Synthesis in BMC anesthesiology, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers.
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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.
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Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 37 citations in OpenAlex.
- Skill retention of advanced airway techniques after simulation training - a randomized prospective study.BMC medical education · 2026Trial
- [(Failed) Intubation during emergency coniotomy by the emergency physician].Die Anaesthesiologie · 2026Article
- Airway Decision-Making in Acute Epiglottitis: A Case Report of Planned Tracheostomy in a Can Ventilate but Cannot Intubate (CVCI) Scenario.Clinical case reports · 2026Article
- A Case of a Large Peritonsillar Abscess.Cureus · 2025Article
- Article
- Paramedics Performed Sonographic Identification of the Conic Ligament-A Prospective Controlled Trial.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Emergency Airway Management: A Systematic Review on the Effectiveness of Cognitive Aids in Improving Outcomes and Provider Performance.Clinics and practice · 2025Review
- A nationwide survey on the safety of cricothyrotomy: a multicenter retrospective study in Japan.Esophagus : official journal of the Japan Esophageal Society · 2025Article
- Broken Blade Fragments in the Neck: An Unforeseen Complication of Cricothyroidotomy.Indian journal of otolaryngology and head and neck surgery : official publication of the Association of Otolaryngologists of India · 2024Article
- Characteristics and outcomes of prehospital and emergency department surgical airways.Journal of the American College of Emergency Physicians open · 2024Article
- Can't intubate, can't oxygenate? What is the preferred surgical strategy? A retrospective analysis.Anaesthesiology intensive therapy · 2024Article
- Pilot cadaveric study on the feasibility of cricothyroidotomy and the associated complications in 30 cats.Frontiers in veterinary science · 2024Article
- Comparison of emergency airway management techniques in the performance of emergent Cricothyrotomy.International journal of emergency medicine · 2022Article
- Acute upper airway obstruction due to tonsillitis necessitating emergency cricothyroidotomy.BMJ case reports · 2021Article
- Revision to Tracheostomy Postcricothyroidotomy is Associated with Increased Rates of Laryngotracheal Stenosis.Journal of emergencies, trauma, and shockArticle
- High- versus low-fidelity simulation training for emergency front of neck access: A prospective observational study in a Swiss anesthesiology department.Saudi journal of anaesthesiaArticle
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAirway guidelines recommend an emergency surgical airway as a potential life-saving treatment in a "Can't Intubate, Can't Oxygenate" (CICO) situation. Surgical airways can be achieved either through a cricothyroidotomy or tracheostomy. The current literature has limited data regarding complications of cricothyroidotomy and tracheostomy in an emergency situation. The objective of this systematic review is to analyze complications following cricothyroidotomy and tracheostomy in airway emergencies.
methodsThis synthesis of literature was exempt from ethics approval. Eight databases were searched from inception to October 2018, using a comprehensive search strategy. Studies were included if they were randomized controlled trials or observational studies reporting complications following emergency surgical airway. Complications were classified as minor (evolving to spontaneous remission or not requiring intervention or not persisting chronically), major (requiring intervention or persisting chronically), early (from the start of the procedure up to 7 days) and late (beyond 7 days of the procedure).
resultsWe retrieved 2659 references from our search criteria. Following the removal of duplicates, title and abstract review, 33 articles were selected for full-text reading. Twenty-one articles were finally included in the systematic review. We found no differences in minor, major or early complications between the two techniques. However, late complications were significantly more frequent in the tracheostomy group [OR (95% CI) 0.21 (0.20-0.22), p < 0.0001].
conclusionsOur results demonstrate that cricothyroidotomies performed in emergent situations resulted in fewer late complications than tracheostomies. This finding supports the recommendations from the latest Difficult Airway Society (DAS) guidelines regarding using cricothyroidotomy as the technique of choice for emergency surgical airway. However, emergency cricothyroidotomies should be converted to tracheostomies in a timely fashion as there is insufficient evidence to suggest that emergency cricothyrotomies are long term airways.
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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.