The Physiologically Difficult Airway
Airway management in critically ill patients involves the identification and management of the potentially difficult airway in order to avoid untoward complications. This focus on difficult airway management has traditionally referred to identifying anatomic characteristics of the patient that ma...
Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Published: |
eScholarship Publishing, University of California
2015-12-01
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Series: | Western Journal of Emergency Medicine |
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://escholarship.org/uc/item/9kv5q8jg |
Summary: | Airway management in critically ill patients involves the identification and management of the
potentially difficult airway in order to avoid untoward complications. This focus on difficult airway
management has traditionally referred to identifying anatomic characteristics of the patient that
make either visualizing the glottic opening or placement of the tracheal tube through the vocal
cords difficult. This paper will describe the physiologically difficult airway, in which physiologic
derangements of the patient increase the risk of cardiovascular collapse from airway management.
The four physiologically difficult airways described include hypoxemia, hypotension, severe
metabolic acidosis, and right ventricular failure. The emergency physician should account for
these physiologic derangements with airway management in critically ill patients regardless of the
predicted anatomic difficulty of the intubation. |
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ISSN: | 1936-900X 1936-9018 |