The goal of safe airway management is to maintain a patent airway. Lack of knowledge of the anatomical morphology and changes that may occur in the upper airway during sedation and unconsciousness may lead to critical incidents and hazardous complications. This review focuses on the risks of sedation and analgesia and changes in wakefulness on airway patency in spontaneously breathing patients....

While Percutaneous Tracheotomy (PT) has become a standard procedure to ensure airway patency in elective indications, it is not yet accepted as standard for the management of emergency airway situations, despite more and more reports highlighting its use in this setting. After comparing PT with other emergency airway access techniques, we report a new approach performed under general anesthesia...

The airway governs our ability to breathe and to achieve a restful, oxygenated, restorative night's sleep, as well as to perform optimally during the day. Any temporomandibular joint or occlusal philosophy must address airway patency while managing pain and dysfunction, identifying contributing factors and alleviating perpetuating factors. The teeth are the last piece of the Airway Centric para...

Upper airway (UA) patency may be influenced by surface tension (gamma) operating within the (UAL). We examined the role of gamma of UAL in the maintenance of UA patency in eight isoflurane-anesthetized supine human subjects breathing via a nasal mask connected to a pneumotachograph attached to a pressure delivery system. We evaluated 1). mask pressure at which the UA closed (Pcrit), 2). UA resi...

OBJECTIVE To compare the effects of buffered hypertonic and buffered normal saline nasal spray on mucociliary clearance and nasal airway patency. STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING Double-blind trial with subjects acting as their own controls. Tertiary care academic medical center. RESULTS Buffered hypertonic saline and buffered normal saline both improved saccharine clearance times ( P < 0.0001 for ...

Twenty four preterm infants (median birth weight 1120 g and gestation 29 weeks) were studied on 83 occasions by measuring upper airway airflow. Airway patency was detected by the transmission of cardiac impulse up the airway and airway closure by its absence. A total of 309 apnoeas of at least five seconds' duration were recorded. One hundred and eighty (58.0%) were central, 109 (35.5%) mixed, ...

Prefabricated composite free flaps for complex airway reconstruction have been described for an adult series at our institution. We extended this approach to a pediatric patient with lifelong subglottic stenosis who had failed previous open airway reconstructions. A staged procedure was utilized in which a composite graft was created using conchal cartilages and a radial forearm free flap. This...