Whether intubation results in a reduction in the incidence of aspiration events and whether these are more frequent in patients with low GCS scores are not yet established. The paucity of evidence on this topic makes clinical trials justifiable and necessary.

13 studies were included in the final analysis (7 on non-traumatic population, 4 on trauma population, 1 pediatric and 1 adult mixed case studies).

For the non-traumatic cases, 2 prospective studies and one retrospective study found no difference in aspiration risk between intubated and non-intubated patients.

Read More