Endotracheal intubation: a dilemma in pre-hospital care

Abstract

The endotracheal intubation in the prehospital setting, is considered the gold standard in the airway maintenance in order to provide ventilation and oxygenation to the critically ill patient, however it is associated with various complications and risks for the patient. With this work of systematic literature review we intend to understand the relationship between the EIT in prehospital emergency, and the prognosis of the critically ill, posing the following question: “what is the impact of endotracheal intubation, in prehospital care, on the clinical prognosis of the patient?”. This research began with a survey of English and Portuguese literature, on scientific data bases MEDLINE, CINAHL, MedicLatina and Nursing and Allied Health Collection, with a time range between 2010 and 2014. The evidence points out that the performance of a prehospital endotracheal intubation is associated with worse rates of cardiopulmonary resuscitation, increased rates of mortality and an increase in co-morbidities. These findings reinforce the discussion surrounding the practice of EIT in pre-hospital and draw health professionals attention to limit this practice to cases where there is a clear clinical indication.