The first 2000 incidents reported to the Australian Incident Monitoring Study were analysed with respect to the incidence and circumstances of problems with endotracheal intubation; 85 (4%) indicated difficulties with intubation. One third of these were emergency cases, one third involved an initially unassisted trainee and one fifth were outside normal working hours. Failure to predict a difficult intubation was reported in one third of the cases, with another quarter presenting serious difficulty despite preoperative prediction. Difficulties with ventilation were experienced in 1 in 7 of the 85 reports; there was one cardiac arrest, but no death. Endotracheal intubation was not achieved in one fifth of the cases. The commonest complications reported amongst the 85 incidents were oesophageal intubation (18 cases), arterial desaturation (15 cases), and reflux of gastric contents (7 cases). Emergency trans-tracheal airways were required in 5 cases. Obesity, limited neck mobility and mouth opening, and inadequate assistance together accounted for two thirds of all the contributing factors. The most successful intubation aid in this series was a gum elastic bougie. A capnograph contributed to management in 28% and a pulse oximeter in 12% of the cases in which they were used. The most serious desaturations were associated with accidental oesophageal intubation. These data suggest a lack of reliable preoperative assessment techniques and skills for the prediction of difficult intubations. They also suggest the need for a greater emphasis on ensuring that the necessary equipment is available, and on teaching and learning drills for difficult intubation and any associated difficulty with ventilation.

The first 2000 incidents reported to the Australian Incident Monitoring Study were analysed with respect to problems with the endotracheal tube; 189 (9%) were reported. The most common problem was endobronchial intubation which accounted for 42% of these 189 reports; endobronchial intubation was the most common cause of arterial desaturation in the 2000 incidents. Obstructions and oesophageal intubation each accounted for 18% of the 189 problems with tubes. The remainder was made up of disconnections and leaks (7% each), misplacements other than endobronchial or oesophageal (4%), inappropriate choice of tube (3%), cuff herniation (1%), failure to deflate the cuff and foreign body in the tube (0.5% each). The pulse oximeter and capnograph first detected 58% of these incidents; a further 25% were detected clinically. The pulse oximeter is the "front-line" monitor for endobronchial intubation, and the capnograph the ''front-line'' monitor for oesophageal intubation, disconnection and obstruction. Recommendations are made for how to prevent problems and how to determine the nature of those that do occur.

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