Intubation training in neonatal patients: a review of one trainee’s first 150 procedures

Abstract

Background: The experience in performing intubation procedures gained by a single operator has been previously reported for adult, but not for neonatal patients. Aim: In order to evaluate the process of skill acquisition, we reviewed the first 150 neonatal tracheal intubations performed by a pediatric trainee. Methods: For logbook purposes, a pediatric trainee prospectively recorded all neonatal tracheal intubation procedures that she performed during a 5-year training period. Results: During the study period, Nicoletta Doglioni performed for 152 intubation procedures. Of the 152 procedures, the author was successful on 120 (79%) occasions. Of these, 77 (64%) were performed on the first attempt, and 43 (36%) on the second attempt. Author successful intubation improved by the training year 1 (67%) to training year 2 (79%), 3 (77%), 4 (80%) and 5 (91%), respectively. Conclusions: Intubation success rate progressively improved with training year experience. A recommended level of proficiency, defined as 90% of procedure success, was obtained after 100 attempts suggesting that a significant amount of experience is needed for obtaining proficiency in neonatal intubation.