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Title of Study: Anesthesiologists' Learning Curves for Ultrasound Assessment of Difficult Airway
Sponsor: Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute, Mount Sinai Hospital
Summary
This study aims to determine how many supervised practice attempts anesthesia trainees need to become competent in using ultrasound to assess the airway. Airway ultrasound may help clinicians identify anatomical features associated with a difficult airway, which can make breathing support or placement of a breathing tube more challenging during anesthesia. However, the amount of training needed to perform these ultrasound measurements accurately has not been established. Eight anesthesia trainees will receive theoretical instruction and hands-on training before performing ultrasound assessments on 20 healthy adult volunteers. The trainees will measure tongue thickness and the distances from the skin to the epiglottis and vocal cords. Their measurements will be compared with those of experienced airway ultrasound experts to assess accuracy and determine how many attempts are needed to achieve competency. A follow-up assessment three months later will evaluate whether the trainees retain their skills. The study hypothesis is that anesthesia trainees can achieve competency in airway ultrasound assessment after a limited number of supervised practice attempts and retain these skills over time. The findings may help establish evidence-based training requirements for airway ultrasound assessment.
Official title: Anesthesiologists' Learning Curves in Ultrasound As-sessment of Difficult Airway (ALUDA)
Key Details
Gender
All
Age Range
18 Years - Any
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Enrollment
28
Start Date
2026-11-15
Completion Date
2028-11-15
Last Updated
2026-11-02
Healthy Volunteers
Yes
Conditions
Interventions
Airway Ultrasound Education and Supervised Training
The intervention consists of theoretical instruction and a supervised hands-on workshop in airway point-of-care ultrasound for anesthesia residents or fellows. Following training, each trainee will perform 20 quantitative airway ultrasound assessments on healthy adult volunteers. The measurements will include tongue thickness, skin-to-epiglottis distance, and skin-to-vocal-cords distance. Each measurement attempt will take a maximum of five minutes, with a maximum of 120 minutes per trainee, including feedback. Trainee measurements will be compared with expert reference measurements to assess accuracy and determine the number of attempts required to achieve competency. A follow-up assessment at three months will evaluate retention of ultrasound measurement skills.
Locations (1)
Department of Anesthesia Mount Sinai Hospital
Toronto, Ontario, Canada