A test for subgroup differences revealed a highly significant difference between the SLT and DLT subgroups (Chi 2 = 749.98, p < 0.00001), further supporting the idea that the effects of thermal softening may differ based on tube type.
Subgroup Analysis When stratified into subgroups, time to intubation was shorter for thermal-softened ETTs than for room-temperature tubes in the SLTs with borderline significance (MD: −15.82, 95% CI −31.52 to −0.12, p = 0.05), and were significantly longer in DLTs (MD:1.78, 95% CI: 0.27 to 3.30, p = 0.02) ( Figure 8 ).
Subgroup analysis indicated a borderline significant reduction in intubation time in the SLT group, albeit with high heterogeneity within this subgroup.