There are over 40 million Endotracheal Intubations performed annually with nearly 2 million being complex and challenging to perform. We estimate that of all in and out-of-hospital intubations, 10% are considered difficult or failed. This accounts for 4 million attempts per year that would benefit from alternative intubation strategies.
- Up to 28% of all deaths associated with anesthesia are due to the inability to mask ventilate or intubate
- Poor laryngeal exposure occurs in 1.5% to 8.5% of adult laryngoscopies
- Clinical studies report that in emergency out-of-hospital intubations, up to 25% of endotracheal tubes are misplaced, with 66% of misplaced tubes being placed in the esophagus
- Difficult endotracheal intubation accounts for 17% of respiratory-related injury and results in significant cost morbidity and mortality