New guidelines for research in airway device evaluation: time for an updated approach (ADEPT-2) to the Difficult Airway Society's 'ADEPT' strategy?

In this article we present the learning from a clinical study of airway device evaluation, conducted under the framework of the Difficult Airway Society (DAS, UK) 'ADEPT' (airway device evaluation project team) strategy. We recommend a change in emphasis from small scale randomised controlled trials conducted as research, to larger-scale observational, post-marketing evaluation audits as a way of obtaining more meaningful information.

Automated summary

This article presents the findings from a clinical study conducted by the Difficult Airway Society (DAS, UK)'s 'Airway Device Evaluation Project Team' (ADEPT) strategy. It recommends shifting the focus of research from small-scale randomized controlled trials to larger-scale observational post-marketing evaluation audits in order to obtain more meaningful information.