Summary of 20 tracheal intubation by anesthesiologists for patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia: retrospective case series

SARS-CoV-2 pandemic is announced and it is very important to share our experience to the critical care community in the early stage. Urgent intubation team was organized by anesthesiologists and was dispatched upon request. We have retrospectively reviewed medical charts of 20 critically ill patients with Covid-19 pneumonia who required tracheal intubation from February 17 to March 19 in Wuhan No.1 hospital, China. We collected their demographics, vital signs, blood gas analysis before and after tracheal intubation, and 7-day outcome after tracheal intubation. Out of 20 patients, 90% were over 60 years old and 15 were with at least one comorbidity. All meet the indication for tracheal intubation announced by treatment expert group. We had successfully intubated all patients using personal protective equipment without circulatory collapse during tracheal intubation. During the observational period, none of 17 anesthesiologists were infected. Although intubation improved SPO(2), reduced PaCO(2) and blood lactate, seven of 20 patients died within 7-days after tracheal intubation. Non-survivors showed significantly lower SPO(2) and higher PaCO(2) and blood lactate compared to survivors. For those who are anticipated to deteriorate severe pneumonia with poor prognosis, earlier respiratory support with tracheal intubation may be advised to improve outcome. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1007/s00540-020-02778-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.