Propofol for Pediatric Tracheal Intubation With Deep Anesthesia During Sevoflurane Induction

Phase 4

Completed

Conditions: Anesthesia Intubation Complication

Interventions: Drug: propofol

Registration Number: NCT01150838

Lead Sponsor: University of Virginia

Brief Summary: The purpose of this study is to determine the amount of propofol required to achieve 50% of patients obtaining a perfect ("excellent") intubation score of 5 on the Steyn modification of the Helbo-Hansen Intubation Score, when placing a tracheal tube in children 1-6 years and 6-12 years (division of age groups at 6th birthday) of age, under a specific induction and ventilation sequence as specified in this study design.

Detailed Description: The practice of tracheal intubation of children without neuromuscular blockade (TIWNB) is widespread in pediatric anesthesia practices. There are several different methods reported for TIWNB, most of which involve administration of an inhaled anesthetic in combination with an intravenous adjunctive medication. The technique of administering propofol IV, immediately after IV placement, after a sevoflurane induction is perhaps the most popular method for pediatric TIWNB in the United States and worldwide (personal communication, and personal practice of this technique). At the time this study was proposed, nobody had studied this technique, and therefore nobody had quantified the amount of propofol needed in this context, or considered that the amount may differ according to the time sevoflurane has been administered at the moment propofol is given. This study divides patients into two age categories, with the first age group starting at the 1 year birthday and going up to the 6th year birthday, and the second age group going from the 6th year birthday up to the 12th birthday. The study also divides participants according to time that they have received sevoflurane from the start of anesthetic induction until intravenous access is achieved and propofol immediately administered. That amount of time varies in clinical practice due to variable difficulty obtaining pediatric intravenous access, and the amount of propofol may vary according to the amount of sevoflurane administered (time administered) because depth of anesthesia will increase with increasing duration of sevoflurane administration. The purpose of this study is to determine for both age groups the amount of propofol required to achieve 50% of patients obtaining a perfect intubation score of 5 on the Steyn modification of the Helbo-Hansen Intubation Score (HH Score), when placing a tracheal tube after various time periods of administration of sevoflurane. The 3 different time windows for sevoflurane administration prior to the propofol bolus will be 2-4 minutes, 4-6 minutes, and 6-8 minutes, starting the time clock at the start of anesthetic induction and ending at the moment the propofol is given. The study therefore has 6 separate groups (2 age groups x 3 time period groups) each of which utilizes a Dixon's Up and Down Method, moving up or down on the amount of propofol administered according to the result of the previous patient in each group (HH Score of 5 labeled "excellent intubation" indicates allocation of predetermined (0.3 mg/kg) incrementally smaller amount of propofol and \>5 labeled as "not-excellent intubation" an increase of 0.3 mg/kg of propofol. Linear regression will be used for each of the 6 groups to determine the amount of propofol required to achieve 50% perfect intubation, with 95% confidence intervals also calculated.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status: COMPLETED

Sex: All

Target Recruitment: 106

Inclusion Criteria

Informed consent / assent
Ages 1-11 years (12 - 132 months)
American Society of Anesthesiology (ASA) physical status 1 or 2, which implies that the patient has no comorbidity that limits daily function.
Scheduled for non-emergent surgery/ procedure under general anesthesia in which the anesthesia team intends to place an endotracheal tube
Expected routine intubation according to physical exam and history
Weight under 50 kg

Exclusion Criteria

Requires neuromuscular blocking agents
Emergent surgery / procedure
Expected difficult intubation
ASA physical status 3 or 4
Weight over 50 kg
Age under 12 months or over 132 months
Allergy to study drugs to be used

Study & Design

Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL

Study Design: SINGLE_GROUP

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Propofol administration	propofol	For each of the 6 groups, propofol 2 mg/kg will be administered to first subject. The propofol dose will move separately for each of the 6 groups, and be increased by 0.3 mg/kg for the next subject if intubation score is "not excellent" and decreased by 0.3 mg/kg if intubation score is "excellent". This dosing scheme will be continued until there are 6 "crossovers" as described above.

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Estimated Propofol Doses Producing 50% Excellent Intubation Conditions	Amount of time it takes to intubate each patient; approximate time is 15-45 seconds	Logistic regression utilized to measure the amount of propofol to obtain 50% excellent intubation conditions for each age/time group. The quality of tracheal intubation will be graded according to the Steyn modification of the Helbo-Hansen scoring system for tracheal intubation, which includes evaluation of ease of laryngoscopy, position of the vocal cords, coughing, jaw relaxation and movement of limbs, each evaluated on a 1-4 scale, with 1 being the best possible condition and 4 the worst. The intubation conditions will be classified as either excellent or not-excellent. "Excellent" will be defined as a total score of 5, a score of 1 for each category, and "not-excellent" will be a total score of 6-20, meaning a score of \>1 in any category. While the outcome measure of each intubation is "excellent" or "not excellent", the overall outcome being generated is the amount of propofol in mg/kg required for 50% excellent intubation score.

Secondary Outcome Measures