Related Articles

Establishing a secure airway in a trauma patient is one of the primary essentials of treatment. Any flaw in airway management may lead to grave morbidity and mortality. Maxillofacial trauma presents a complex problem with regard to the patient's airway. By definition, the injury compromises the patient's airway and it is, therefore, must be protected. In most cases, the patient undergoes surgery for maxillofacial trauma or for other, more severe, life-threatening injuries, and securing the airway is the first step in the introduction of general anaesthesia. In such patients, we anticipate difficult endotracheal intubation and, often, also difficult mask ventilation. In addition, the patient is usually regarded as having a "full stomach" and has not been cleared of a C-spine injury, which may complicate airway management furthermore. The time available to accomplish the task is short and the patient's condition may deteriorate rapidly. Both decision-making and performance are impaired in such circumstances. In this review, we discuss the complexity of the situation and present a treatment approach.

Trauma is the fourth leading cause of death for all Americans, with a mortality rate of 61 deaths per 100,000 people. Although the definitive place for the management of major abdominal or thoracic hemorrhage, as well as neurologic or orthopedic problems, is the operating room in a tertiary care hospital, trauma is a time-related disease, and the more quickly hemorrhage is controlled and appropriate management initiated, the better the outcome.

The author outlines a systematic approach to prehospital management of the trauma patient that includes a primary survey and a secondary survey. The primary survey (Part 1) focuses on life-threatening conditions that affect the airway and methods to clear the airway immediately. Once the airway is cleared, any anatomical or physiologic compromise that limits ventilation is identified and corrected, hemorrhage is controlled, and the cervical spine, if injury is suspected, is protected. The secondary survey (Part 2) is a comprehensive examination.

Trauma is the fourth leading cause of death for all Americans, with a mortality rate of 61 deaths per 100,000 people. Although the definitive place for the management of major abdominal or thoracic hemorrhage, as well as neurological or orthopedic problems, is the operating room in a tertiary care hospital, trauma is a time-related disease, and the more quickly hemorrhage is controlled and appropriate management initiated, the better the outcome.

The author outlines a systematic approach to prehospital management of the trauma patient that includes a primary survey and a secondary survey. The primary survey (Part 1) focuses on life-threatening conditions that affect the airway and methods to clear the airway immediately. Once the airway is cleared, any anatomical or physiologic compromise that limits ventilation is identified and corrected, hemorrhage is controlled, and the cervical spine, if injury is suspected, is protected. The secondary survey (Part 2) is a comprehensive examination.

Traumatic injury remains the leading cause of potentially preventable death in Canadians under age 40 years. Although only a minority of patients present with hemodynamic instability, these patients have a significant chance of dying. The causes of instability must be recognized and corrected quickly by using a systematic approach. To allow key supportive interventions to be undertaken swiftly, it is more important to identify and prioritize systemic compromise than to confirm specific diagnoses. Most potentially preventable trauma death relates to airway obstruction, hemopneumothorax, intracranial hemorrhage and intracavitary bleeding. Definitive airway control should be assured as a first priority. Hemopneumothoraces are typically addressed by chest tube insertion, although thoracic exploration will occasionally be urgently required. Hemorrhage control is much more important than fluid resuscitation and mandates the earliest possible definitive management. Unstable patients nearing physiological exhaustion require abbreviated or “damage-control” surgical tactics. This should be recognized early in the resuscitation rather than late in an operative procedure. The management of expanding intracranial hemorrhage requires optimization of oxygenation, ventilation and circulatory support while urgent CT and expert neurosurgical care are provided. Polytrauma presenting with head injury challenges the most developed of trauma systems, necessitating thoughtful prioritization of care and taking into consideration local capabilities. Bedside trauma sonography is an evolving tool that complements the physical examination during an initial survey. Future breakthroughs in trauma resuscitation may involve procoagulant medications, imaging technology, circulatory assist techniques and the use of inflammatory modulators. The greatest future challenge in trauma care, though, will be the provision of basic organized resuscitative care to the global community.

Background:

Airway management in maxillofacial injuries presents with a unique set of problems. Compromised airway is still a challenge to the anesthesiologist in spite of all modalities available. Maxillofacial injuries are the result of high-velocity trauma arising from road traffic accidents, sport injuries, falls and gunshot wounds. Any flaw in airway management may lead to grave morbidity and mortality in prehospital or hospital settings and as well as for reconstruction of fractures subsequently.

Methods:

One hundred and seventy-seven patients of maxillofacial injuries, operated over a period of one and half years during July 2008 to December 2009 in Al-Nahdha hospital were reviewed. All patients were reviewed in depth with age related type of injury, etiology and techniques of difficult airway management.

Results:

The major etiology of injuries were road traffic accidents (67%) followed by sport (15%) and fall (15%). Majority of patients were young in the age group of 11-30 years (71 %). Fracture mandible (53%) was the most common injury, followed by fracture maxilla (21%), fracture zygoma (19%) and pan-facial fractures (6%). Maxillofacial injuries compromise mask ventilation and difficult airway due to facial fractures, tissue edema and deranged anatomy. Shared airway with the surgeon needs special attention due to restrictions imposed during surgery. Several methods available for securing the airway, both decision-making and performance, are important in such circumstances. Airway secured by nasal intubation with direct visualization of vocal cords was the most common (57%), followed by oral intubation (17%). Other methods like tracheostomy and blind nasal intubation was avoided by fiberoptic bronchoscopic nasal intubation in 26% of patients.

Conclusion:

The results of this study indicated that surgically securing the airway by tracheostomy should be revised compared to other available methods. In the era of rigid fixation of fractures and the possibility of leaving the patient without wiring an open mouth and alternative techniques like fiberoptic bronchoscopic intubation, it is unnecessary to carry out tracheostomy for securing the airway as frequently as in the past.

Difficulties or failure in airway management are still important factors in morbidity and mortality related to anesthesia and intensive care. A patent and secure airway is essential to manage anesthetized or critically ill patients. Oxygenation maintenance during tracheal intubation is the cornerstone of difficult airway management and is always emphasized in guidelines. The occurrence of respiratory adverse events has decreased in claims for injuries due to inadequate airway management mainly at induction of anesthesia. Nevertheless, claim reports emphasize that airway emergencies, tracheal extubation and/or recovery of anesthesia phases are still associated with death or brain damage, indicating that additional educational support and management strategies to improve patient safety are required. The present brief review analyses specific problems of airway management related to difficult tracheal intubation and to difficult mask ventilation prediction. The review will focus on basic airway management including preoxygenation, and on some oxygenation and tracheal intubation techniques that may be performed to solve a difficult airway.

The value of thrombolysis in the treatment of acute myocardial infarction is well established. Haemorrhage into subcutaneous tissues is fortunately a rare complication of fibrinolytic administration. However, if as a result of trauma a haematoma develops within the neck following thrombolysis, it can lead to rapid airway compromise. This is the first reported case of tenecteplase administration leading to subcutaneous haemorrhage and consequent airway compromise. It is also the first reported case where the antecedent trauma was a jaw thrust.

Rapid repair of the denuded alveolar surface after injury is a key to survival. The respiratory tract contains several sources of endogenous adult stem cells residing within the basal layer of the upper airways, within or near pulmonary neuroendocrine cell rests, at the bronchoalveolar junction, and within the alveolar epithelial surface, which contribute to the repair of the airway wall. Bone marrow-derived adult mesenchymal stem cells circulating in blood are also involved in tracheal regeneration. However, an organism is frequently incapable of repairing serious damage and defects of the respiratory tract resulting from acute trauma, lung cancers, and chronic pulmonary and airway diseases. Therefore, replacement of the tracheal tissue should be urgently considered. The shortage of donor trachea remains a major obstacle in tracheal transplantation. However, implementation of tissue engineering and stem cell therapy-based approaches helps to successfully solve this problem. To date, huge progress has been achieved in tracheal bioengineering. Several sources of stem cells have been used for transplantation and airway reconstitution in animal models with experimentally induced tracheal defects. Most tracheal tissue engineering approaches use biodegradable three-dimensional scaffolds, which are important for neotracheal formation by promoting cell attachment, cell redifferentiation, and production of the extracellular matrix. The advances in tracheal bioengineering recently resulted in successful transplantation of the world's first bioengineered trachea. Current trends in tracheal transplantation include the use of autologous cells, development of bioactive cell-free scaffolds capable of supporting activation and differentiation of host stem cells on the site of injury, with a future perspective of using human native sites as micro-niche for potentiation of the human body's site-specific response by sequential adding, boosting, permissive, and recruitment impulses.

Background

We report a case of severe upper airway obstruction due to a retropharyngeal hematoma that presented nearly one day after a precipitating traumatic injury. Retropharyngeal hematomas are rare, but may cause life-threatening airway compromise.

Case presentation

A 50 year-old man developed severe dyspnea with oropharyngeal airway compression due to retropharyngeal hematoma 20 hours after presenting to the emergency department. The patient also had a fractured first cervical vertebra and was diagnosed with a left brachial plexopathy. The patient underwent emergent awake fiberoptic endotracheal intubation to provide a definitive airway.

Conclusion

Retropharyngeal hematoma with life-threatening airway compromise can develop hours or days after a precipitating injury. Clinicians should be alert to the potential for this delayed airway collapse, and should also be prepared to rapidly secure the airway in this patient population likely to have concomitant cervical spinal or head injuries.

Aim. To describe the subsequent treatment of airway trauma sustained during laryngoscopy and endotracheal intubation. Methods. A rare injury occurring during laryngoscopy and endotracheal intubation that resulted in perforation of the tongue by an endotracheal tube and the subsequent management of this unusual complication are discussed. A 65-year-old female with intraparenchymal brain hemorrhage with rapidly progressive neurologic deterioration had the airway secured prior to arrival at the referral institution. The endotracheal tube (ETT) was noted to have pierced through the base of the tongue and entered the trachea, and the patient underwent operative laryngoscopy to inspect the injury and the ETT was replaced by tracheostomy. Results. Laryngoscopy demonstrated the ETT to perforate the base of the tongue. The airway was secured with tracheostomy and the ETT was removed. Conclusions. A wide variety of complications resulting from direct and video-assisted laryngoscopy and tracheal intubation have been reported. Direct perforation of the tongue with an ETT and ability to ventilate and oxygenate subsequently is a rare injury.

Summary

Any anaesthesiologist handling a paediatric airway must have a detailed understanding of the differences in airway anatomy, signs and symptoms of airway compromise and common paediatric airway abnormalities. In addition to various equipments needed to manage a difficult airway, there should be a clear plan for evaluation, preparation and management of life threatening complications. We share our experience of successfully managing a difficult airway of a 5 year old child with Tessier 7 facial cleft syndrome. We emphasize the importance of preoperative evaluation, preparation and use of various airway adjuncts.

Bacterial tracheitis is due to a secondary bacterial infection of the trachea, resulting in the formation of mucopurulent exudates that may acutely obstruct the upper airway, resulting in a life-threatening condition. Bacterial tracheitis should be considered in the differential diagnosis of any child with acute upper airway obstruction. This diagnosis should also be considered in any child with viral croup that is nonresponsive to conventional therapy. The only definitive way to diagnose bacterial tracheitis is by direct visualization of the trachea via bronchoscopy; however, this may not be required in all cases. Management includes close observation and monitoring, early initiation of broad spectrum antibiotics, pain management and aggressive airway clearance techniques. The decision to intubate should be individualized based on the severity of symptoms, age of child and accessibility of personnel skilled at emergency intubation techniques. If diagnosed and treated early, complete recovery is expected.

An expanding body of literature exists which describes the airway challenges and management options for lingual tonsillar hypertrophy (LTH). The use of retrograde intubation to secure a patient‘s airway in the setting of LTH has been previously unreported and should be considered early in the event of a cannot intubate, cannot ventilate scenario. A 55-year-old man, who had previously been described as an easy intubation, presented an unexpected cannot intubate, cannot ventilate scenario secondary to LTH. Various noninvasive airway maneuvers were attempted to restore ventilation without success. We describe the advantages of early use of wire-guided retrograde intubation as an alternative to a surgical airway for obtaining a secure airway in a patient with LTH, in whom noninvasive airway management maneuvers have failed. Multiple different noninvasive approaches to management of LTH have been previously described including the laryngeal tube, laryngeal mask airway, and fiberoptic bronchoscopy. Unfortunately, none of these noninvasive airway maneuvers successfully ventilated this patient and an invasive airway became necessary. Retrograde intubation is a less invasive alternative to the surgical airway with potentially less risk for complications. Retrograde intubation may be particularly effective in the setting of LTH as it may stent open an otherwise occluded airway and allow passage of an endotracheal tube. Skillful use of this technique should be considered early as a viable option in any case of unexpected difficult intubation due to LTH.

An infant was born with an unusual combination of primitive foregut anomalies consisting of complete proximal tracheal atresia, proximal esophageal atresia and distal tracheoesophageal fistula. Before the birth, the family physician suspected an anomaly of the upper airway or esophageal occlusion on the basis of hydramnios evident at the thirty-third to thirty-fourth week of gestation, and earlier amniocentesis which indicated a normal level of α-fetoprotein. He consulted the hospital obstetrics and neonatology departments, which were thus prepared to deal with a potential airway problem at the birth. At birth, prompt airway management, including tracheostomy, prevented anoxic damage to the child. Features which should alert the physician to tracheal obstruction include antenatal polyhydramnios; severe respiratory distress without an audible cry and palpable distal trachea in the newborn; and failure to advance the endotracheal tube beyond the infant's vocal cords.

Background

In the presence of severe maxillofacial trauma, management of the airway is important because this condition poses a significant threat to airway patency. That securing the airway is not always straightforward is described and illustrated in this paper.

Case

We present the case of a 23-year-old patient who sustained severe maxillofacial injury for which airway control was necessary. A wire-guided percutaneous dilation cricothyrotomy was performed, which was most probably the cause of an acute loss of airway patency. The literature regarding the role of percutaneous techniques in an elective and emergency setting is reviewed.

Summary

Direct trauma to the airway is a rare injury which can lead to disastrous consequences due to compounding effect of bleeding, aspiration of blood, airway obstruction and severe sympathetic stimulation. Here we are presenting two cases of open tracheal injury in two adult males following assault with sharp weapon. Two different techniques of securing the airways were employed depending upon the severity and urgency of the situation. In the first case, orotracheal intubation helped the surgeon to repair airway around the endotracheal tube whereas in the second patient this stenting effect was absent as he was intubated through the distal cut-end of trachea in the face of airway emergency.

Endotracheal intubation is widely used for airway management in a prehospital setting, despite a lack of controlled trials demonstrating a positive effect on survival or neurological outcome in adult patients. The benefits, in term of outcomes of invasive airway management before reaching hospital, remain controversial. However, inadequate airway management in this patient population is the primary cause of preventable mortality. An increase in intubation failures and in the rate of complications in trauma patients should induce us to improve airway management skills at the scene of trauma. If the addition of emergency physicians to a prehospital setting is to have any influence on outcome, further studies are merited. However, it has been established that sedation with rapid sequence intubation is superior in terms of success, complications and rates of intubation difficulty. Orotracheal intubation with planned neuromuscular blockade and in-line cervical alignment remains the safest and most effective method for airway control in patients who are severely injured.

Airway management during carinal resection should provide adequate ventilation and oxygenation as well as a good surgical field, but without complications such as barotraumas or aspiration. One method of airway management is high frequency jet ventilation (HFJV) of one lung or both lungs. We describe a patient undergoing carinal resection, who was managed with HFJV of one lung, using a de-ballooned bronchial blocker of a Univent tube without cardiopulmonary compromise. HFJV of one lung using a bronchial blocker of a Univent tube is a simple and safe method which does not need additional catheters to perform HFJV and enables the position of the stiffer bronchial blocker more stable in airway when employed during carinal resection.

The treatment of foreign body obstruction of the upper airway has been the subject of considerable attention and controversy. Current recommendations from the National Academy of Sciences, the American Red Cross and the American Heart Association include the use of back blows, abdominal thrusts (Heimlich maneuver) or chest thrusts (or both) and finger probes, until definitive therapy by trained medical and paramedical personnel becomes available. Nevertheless, a number of authorities on this subject have claimed that these approaches are dangerous, and that abdominal thrusts should be the first and only first-aid technique used in this situation.

There are only limited data on which to make recommendations regarding this issue. Clinical evidence is scanty and of a highly anecdotal and unscientific nature. The data that are available suggest that a combination of maneuvers is in fact preferable to any single maneuver. Experimental physiologic data on both humans and animals tend to support this concept and suggest that back blows, which generate high initial pressures, may dislodge objects from the larynx enough to allow subsequent thrust maneuvers, which generate more sustained increases in intrathoracic pressure, to move the object out of the larynx. At this time, in the absence of definitive data, it seems reasonable to teach as many lay citizens as possible to recognize upper airway obstruction due to foreign body and to perform any and all of these techniques (preferably in combination), as well as external cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) where appropriate, on choking victims.

Obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSAS) is a common medical disorder among adults, which is increasingly being recognized in children too. It is a breathing disorder characterized by upper airway obstruction with or without intermittent complete obstruction that disrupts normal breathing during sleep. Anatomical and neuromuscular disorders are mainly responsible for this disorder. This disorder leads to a state of chronic hypoxemia, which has significant cardiac, pulmonary and central nervous system implications. Diagnosis of OSAS is based on thorough history and clinical examination along with appropriate sleep studies including polysomnography. The mainstay of treatment of paediatric OSAS is adenotonsillectomy. Good anaesthetic practice in Paediatric patients with OSAS revolves around good and ideal airway management. Early detection of airway obstruction, intense monitoring to warn of impending airway problems and appropriate and early intervention of airway compromise are good anaesthetic practices. Coexisting medical problems should be adequately addressed and safe analgesic techniques in the perioperative period go towards improving outcomes in patients with paediatric OSAS.

Airway management in patients with maxillofacial trauma is complicated by injuries to routes of intubation, and the surgeon is frequently asked to secure the airway. Airway obstruction from hemorrhage, tissue prolapse, or edema may require emergent intervention for which multiple intubation techniques exist. Competing needs for both airway and surgical access create intraoperative conflicts during repair of maxillofacial fractures. Postoperatively, edema and maxillomandibular fixation place the patient at risk for further airway compromise.

A significant proportion of trauma patients require tracheostomy during intensive care unit stay. The timing of this procedure remains a subject of debate. The decision for tracheostomy should take into consideration the risks and benefits of prolonged endotracheal intubation versus tracheostomy. Timing of tracheostomy is also influenced by the indications for the procedure, which include relief of upper airway obstruction, airway access in patients with cervical spine injury, management of retained airway secretions, maintenance of patent airway and airway access for prolonged mechanical ventilation. This review summarizes the potential advantages of tracheostomy versus endotracheal intubation, the different indications for tracheostomy in trauma patients and studies examining early versus late tracheostomy. It also reviews the predictors of prolonged mechanical ventilation, which may guide the decision regarding the timing of tracheostomy.

Objective. To demonstrate the risk associated with blocked proximal tracheal stents when a patient presents with acute respiratory distress, with blockage of stent and what is the best management we can offer without damage to the stent and its associated complications. Case Report. A 22-yr-old, male patient, presented in severe respiratory distress. He had history of corrosive poisoning for which he was tracheotomised. A stainless steel wire mesh stent was placed in the trachea, from the subglottis, to just above the carina. One month later, he presented with a critically compromised airway with severe respiratory distress. Emergency tracheostomy was done and the metallic stent had to be cut open, in order to provide an airway. Conclusion. Management of blocked proximal stents with patient in respiratory distress remains a challenge. Formation of granulation tissue is common and fibreoptic bronchoscopic assisted intubation may not always be possible. A regular follow up of all patients with stents is essential. Placement of stents within a few centimetres of cricotracheal junction should not be encouraged for long term indications.

Introduction

Effective cardiopulmonary resuscitation with appropriate airway management improves outcomes following out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). Historically, tracheal intubation has been accepted as the optimal form of OHCA airway management in the UK. The Joint Royal Colleges Ambulance Liaison Committee recently concluded that newer supraglottic airway devices (SADs) are safe and effective devices for hospital procedures and that their use in OHCA should be investigated. This study will address an identified gap in current knowledge by assessing whether it is feasible to use a cluster randomised design to compare SADs with current practice, and also to each other, during OHCA.

Methods and analysis

The primary objective of this study is to assess the feasibility of a cluster randomised trial to compare the ventilation success of two newer SADs: the i-gel and the laryngeal mask airway supreme to usual practice during the initial airway management of OHCA. The secondary objectives are to collect data on ventilation success, further airway interventions required, loss of a previously established airway during transport, airway management on arrival at hospital (or termination of the resuscitation attempt), initial resuscitation success, survival to intensive care admission, survival to hospital discharge and patient outcome at 3 months. Ambulance paramedics will be randomly allocated to one of the three methods of airway management. Adults in medical OHCA attended by a trial paramedic will be eligible for the study.

Ethics and dissemination

Approval for the study has been obtained from a National Health Service Research Ethics Committee with authority to review proposals for trials of a medical device in incapacitated adults. The results will be made publicly available on an open access website, and we will publish the findings in appropriate journals and present them at national and international conferences relevant to the subject field.

Trial registration

ISRCTN: 18528625.

Background and Aim:

Obtaining patent airway is a crucial task for many physicians. When opportunities to practice intubations on patients are really limited, skill gaining methods are needed. We conducted a study among novice 6th year medical students to assess their ability to intubate the trachea in normal airway in manikin using four airway tools.

Setting and Design:

Prospective, cohort study conducted at simulation center of university-based, tertiary care hospital.

Methods:

Fifty medical students performed either oral or nasal tracheal intubation using the following four intubating tools: C-Mac videolaryngoscope, Glidescope, and Airtraq in comparison with regular Macintosh laryngoscope. Intubation time, visualization of glottic opening, ease of intubation, satisfaction of participants, incidence of dental trauma, and the need for optimization manoeuvres′ use among different airway tools were recorded.

Results:

In oral intubation, Airtraq was better than others in regard to intubation time, glottic opening, ease of intubation, and the need for external laryngeal pressure application, followed by Glidescope, C-Mac, and finally Macintosh laryngoscope (P<0.001). Airtraq and Glidescope associated with less dental trauma than C-Mac and Macintosh. In nasal route, fastest intubation time was reported with Airtraq followed by Glidescope, C-Mac, and lastly Macintosh. Airtraq, Glidescope, and C-Mac were similar to each other and better than the Macintosh in regard to ease of intubation, satisfaction, and number of attempts (P≤0.008).

Conclusions:

New devices like Airtraq, Glidescope, and C-Mac are better than the regular Macintosh when used by novice medical students for oral and nasal intubation on manikin.