The airway

Preoxygenation, intubation, rapid-sequence induction, videolaryngoscopy, the difficult airway and extubation.

8 pages

Crisis

• Cannot intubate, cannot oxygenate: front-of-neck accessWhen no tube or mask can get oxygen in, a cut through the front of the neck into the windpipe is…
• The unanticipated difficult airway: plans A to DWhen a breathing tube will not go in, a fixed sequence of backup plans keeps oxygen flowing…

Technique

• Extubation: when and howTaking out the breathing tube safely at the end of an anaesthetic, once the patient can breathe…
• Preoxygenation and apnoeic oxygenationBreathing pure oxygen through a tight mask before the breathing stops, so the lungs hold an…
• Rapid-sequence induction and intubationA fast way to put a patient with a full stomach to sleep and pass a breathing tube, shortening…
• Tracheal intubationPassing a tube through the vocal cords into the windpipe, so the lungs can be ventilated safely…
• Videolaryngoscopy, bougies and other adjunctsA laryngoscope with a camera at the blade tip, plus simple tools such as a bougie, that help…

Concept

• How a child's airway differsA small child's airway is shaped differently from an adult's and runs out of oxygen faster…

A to Z

• A
• B
• C
• D
• E
• F
• G
• H
• I
• L
• M
• N
• O
• P
• R
• S
• T
• V
• W

← Anaesthesia and critical care

Educational content; it does not replace supervised training, your institution's protocols or the anaesthetist's or intensivist's decision. It contains no doses and no ventilator or infusion settings.

Representative model, for educational purposes only.