In cases of multiple facial trauma and other specific cases, the anesthesiologist may be asked to convert an oral endotracheal tube to a nasal endotracheal tube or vice versa. Conventionally, the patient is simply extubated and the endotracheal tube is re-inserted along either the oral or nasal route. However, the task of airway management can become difficult due to surgical trauma or worsenin...

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 dur...

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 surger...

Managing the airway of a critically injured trauma patient in the prehospital environment is challenging, especially when access to the patient's airway is limited as is often the case in vehicle entrapment incidents. This paper reports the use of the laryngeal mask airway as an adjunct to airway management when attempts using simple airway management techniques have failed to provide adequate ...

BACKGROUND Advanced airway management is composed of a set of vital yet potentially difficult skills for the prehospital provider, with widely different clinical guidelines. In the military setting, there are few data available to inform guideline development. We reevaluated our advanced airway protocol in light of our registry data to determine if there were a preferred maximum number of endot...

OBJECTIVES To review the literature to determine the rates of airway stenosis after cricothyrotomy, particularly as they compare with previously documented rates of this complication after tracheotomy, and to examine the complications associated with conversion. DATA SOURCES We conducted a review of the medical literature by the use of PubMed and OVID MEDLINE databases. STUDY SELECTION We i...

Albert J. Varon, MD* BACKGROUND: Ryder Trauma Center is a Level 1 trauma center with approximately 3800 emergency admissions per year. In this study, we sought to determine the incidence of failed prehospital intubations (PHI), its correlation with hospital mortality, and possible risk factors associated with PHI. METHODS: A prospective observational study was conducted evaluating trauma patien...

Method Over a one year period (April 2012-March 2013) all prehospital trauma patients attended by the doctor-paramedic LAA team who were identified as having airway compromise or an indication for any airway intervention on scene were included in a prospective observational study. The doctor paramedic team recorded any airway compromise on arrival and prior interventions carried out by ambulanc...

Abstract Case Presentation A 14-year-old boy presented to the emergency department with facial and neck swelling, hoarseness dysphagia. The symptom onset was 24 hours after a rugby tackle shoulder. Examination found significant bilateral lower swelling. Blood results observations were normal. Fibreoptic nasendoscopy (FNE) revealed diffuse oedema of arytenoids soft tissue around larynx. Computed...