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NCT Number: NCT07365137

Prospective Evaluation of Foreign Body Airway Obstruction Interventions Among Adults and Children

Foreign body airway obstruction (FBAO, choking) is a life-threatening emergency requiring time-sensitive treatment to prevent severe injury or deaths. Traditional treatments taught in first aid courses include abdominal thrusts, back blows, and chest compressions or thrusts. Currently, first aid guidelines recommend different treatments for adults, child and infants.

Until recently, data on these techniques was limited to case series from the late 1900's. To further improve our knowledge of which treatment is most effective and safest for patients, this study will collect data on choking incidents in Alberta, Canada. The first phase of this project will make sure identifying and recruiting choking patients in real-time is possible so that the highest quality of data can be collected. If successful, this study will support a future project where the different choking treatments are compared in terms of their effectiveness and safety. This study will focus on adults and children over the age of 2 years.

Recruiting

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Key information

Conditions

Foreign Body Airway Obstruction Airway Obstruction Respiration Disorders Respiratory Insufficiency Respiratory Tract Diseases

Age range

3 year and older

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Observational

Primary location

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: No

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • Adult or children (aged greater than 2 years) who experienced an out-of-hospital FBAO in Alberta, Canada
  • Received a FBAO intervention while conscious by bystander or healthcare provider
  • Were assessed by EMS at the time of the incident, or later attended an emergency department due to the incident

Exclusion criteria

  • Patients with abnormal airway anatomy such as a tracheostomy.
  • Patients who were unconscious when they received the initial FBAO intervention

Treatment and study plan

Abdominal thrust

Procedure

Abdominal thrust received as first intervention

Back blows

Procedure

Back blows received as first intervention

Chest compressions/thrusts

Procedure

Chest compressions or thrusts received as first intervention

Primary outcomes

  1. Eligible patient recruitment

    Time frame: Through study completion, a 6 month period

    Count of eligible patients recruited per month

Secondary outcomes

  1. Proportion of eligible patients recruited

    Time frame: Through study completion, a 6 month period

    Among patients who screen as eligible for recruitment, the proportion of those who are successfully recruited

  2. Proportion of recruited patients with satisfactory data collection

    Time frame: Through study completion, a 6 month period

    Among patients successfully recruited, the those patients with >= 90% of desired variables collected

  3. Foreign body airway obstruction relief

    Time frame: Day 1

    Defined as: responders determining that the patient did not require further FBAO intervention due to improvement or resolution of their respiratory distress in a conscious patient, or the ability for a responder to successfully ventilate an unconscious patient when previously they were unable to due to obstruction

  4. Survival to acute care discharge

    Time frame: From date of enrolment until the date of acute care discharge or date of death from any cause, whichever came first, assessed up to 3 month

    Defined as discharge from the care of Emergency Medical Services(EMS) or paramedics, the emergency department, or the hospital.

  5. Survival to acute care discharge with favourable neurological outcome

    Time frame: From date of enrolment until the date of acute care discharge or date of death from any cause, whichever came first, assessed up to 3 month

    Defined as the patient being able to be discharge to the home environment that they previously lived, with the ability to perform the same activities of daily living as before the FBAO incident

  6. Intervention-associated injuries

    Time frame: From date of enrolment until the date of acute care discharge or date of death from any cause, whichever came first, assessed up to 3 month

    Listed summary of any injuries reported among patient recruited for study occurring as a result of the FBAO intervention as determined by the treating physician/care provider

Study contacts

Contact information is provided by the study sponsor or research team.

Cody Dunne, MD

CONTACT

[email protected]

1-403-944-1818

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

University of Calgary

Other

Registry information

Official study title

Prospective Evaluation of Foreign Body Airway Obstruction Interventions Among Adults and Children: A Non-randomized Pilot Cohort Study

Important dates

Study start
2025
Primary completion
2026
Study completion
2026
First posted
Jan 26, 2026
Registry last updated
Jan 26, 2026

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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