Acute cardiac care & resuscitation

Prehospital emergency cricothyroidotomy in Denmark: a nationwide cohort study, 2016–2023

ResuscitationPublished nationwide registry-based observational cohort study

Authors' conclusion

Prehospital emergency cricothyroidotomy was an exceedingly rare procedure but demonstrated high procedural success in this nationwide physician-staffed Emergency Medical Services system. Survival among patients with OHCA was relatively low, reflecting the critical condition of patients requiring emergency cricothyroidotomy.

Study context

Population
All patients undergoing prehospital emergency cricothyroidotomy in Denmark between 2016 and 2023validated prehospital emergency cricothyroidotomy cases
Participants
71 patients
Exposure
Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) vs without OHCA
  • OHCAn = 48
  • Without OHCAn = 23
Outcome
Procedural success
Methodological detailsiterative free-text searches and manual validation, linkage with the Danish Cardiac Arrest Register
  • Iterative free-text searches and manual validation
  • Linkage with the Danish Cardiac Arrest Register

Main finding

As reported in the abstract

Overall procedural success
87.3%

Observational data: associations, not effects.

Further findings

Indications

Aspiration
32.4%
Oropharyngeal bleeding
33.8%
  • Most frequent indications

Outcomes among the 48 patients with OHCA

Return of spontaneous circulation
25.0%
30-day survival
4.5%
One-year survival
2.3%

Emergency cricothyroidotomy among nationwide OHCA patients

Performed in 48 of 39,885 nationwide OHCA patients
0.12%

Original publication

Prehospital emergency cricothyroidotomy in Denmark: a nationwide cohort study, 2016–2023. Resuscitation. Published 24 August 2026. doi:10.1016/j.resuscitation.2026.111276

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