Visual Perception Exploration Using Eye-tracking Technology in a Cannot Intubate/Cannot Oxygenate Simulation

Attending physicians and residents, from the department of Anesthesiology at the Université de Montréal were recruited on a voluntary basis. A 13-minute video based on a suggested CICO algorithm from the Difficult Airway Society to manage unanticipated difficult intubation in adults (3) was produced at the University of Montreal Simulation Centre using high-fidelity settings. The scenario was about a patient, with a cervical collar, in the post-anesthesia care unit. Throughout the video, the patient presents increasing respiratory distress worsening to respiratory failure. The anesthesiologist fails to ventilate, intubate and insert a laryngeal mask leading to a cricothyroidotomy. All participants were looking at a screen on which the scenario was broadcast. The screen was equipped with TobiiEyeX®, an eye-tracking system that automatically aggregates gaze data.