Airway management for patients who underwent appendectomy for the indication of acute appendicitis at a Texas tertiary care center: a single center retrospective study.

Background: The primary aim of our study was to determine the frequency of video laryngoscopy (VL) use on the first intubation attempt for patients who underwent appendectomy for acute appendicitis at our hospital.

Methods: Patients who had an appendectomy for the indication of acute appendicitis at Baylor Scott & White Medical Center - Temple between January 1, 2021, and December 31, 2023, were included in our study. Study investigators extracted demographic, physical, and clinical data from our electronic medical record.

Results: A total of 533 and 70 patients had direct laryngoscopy (DL) and VL for their first intubation attempts, respectively. Among these, 518 (97.2%) and 53 (75.7%) performed with DL and VL, respectively, were successful on the first attempt (P < 0.001). Patients who had VL for the first intubation attempt were more likely to be male, older, have a higher body mass index, and have a higher incidence of previous airway management with VL, appendiceal perforation, nasopharyngeal tube placement, and SARS-CoV-2 infection compared to patients who had DL.

Conclusion: Approximately 12% of our patients who underwent appendectomy for acute appendicitis had VL on the first intubation attempt, and these patients were more complex than those who had DL.