Cervical ultrasound for endotracheal intubation confirmation in dogs by veterinary students: a cadaveric study

Although endotracheal intubation is usually a simple and fast procedure in dogs, some situations can be challenging and lead to the risk of tube misplacement in the esophagus—a life-threatening complication. Hence, confirming intubation is a cornerstone whenever this procedure is performed. Methods such as direct visualization or capnography present limitations insofar as they may be unreliable or unavailable under some circumstances. Ultrasound has emerged as a promising tool to confirm intubation in medicine. However, so far little research has been done on the subject in veterinary medicine. This study’s main goal was to investigate ultrasound performed by veterinary students as a confirmation method for intubation in canine cadavers after a brief training session (25 minutes). A total of 160 exams were performed with a microconvex probe by 20 students in 11 different cadavers on left and right recumbencies. Overall accuracy was 70.6% with a median success rate of 75% and a median time to diagnosis of 25 seconds. The number of correct diagnoses was statistically higher than the wrong ones (p<0.05) without difference between recumbencies. Sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values were 72.5%, 68.8%, 69.9%, and 71.4%, respectively. The fastest diagnosis was performed in just 4 seconds, and among the top-performers, one student had 100% accuracy with a mean time to diagnosis of 16.8 seconds, and four students had approximately 88% accuracy. This study showed for the first time that even inexperienced veterinary students can have acceptable accuracy in confirming endotracheal intubation in dogs after a brief training session.