• Lorenzo Gamberini, Marzia Baldazzi, Carlo Coniglio, Giovanni Gordini, and Tommaso Bardi.
• Division of Anesthesia, Intensive Care and Prehospital Emergency, Ospedale Maggiore Carlo Alberto Pizzardi, Bologna, Italy. Electronic address: gambero6891@hotmail.it.
• Air Med. J. 2019 Sep 1; 38 (5): 366-373.

ObjectiveTraumatic brain injury (TBI) is a leading cause of death and disability among trauma patients. The final outcome of TBI results from a complex interaction between primary and secondary mechanisms of injury that begin immediately after the traumatic event. The aim of this review was to evaluate the latest evidence regarding the impact of prehospital airway management and the outcome after traumatic brain injury.MethodsPubMed, Embase, and Cochrane searches were conducted using the MeSH database. Airway management, traumatic brain injury, pneumonia, and the subheadings of these Medical Subject Headings were combined.ResultsThe review is structured into 4 major topics: airway management devices, prehospital pharmacologic management, mortality and neurologic outcomes, and early respiratory infections. The available literature shows a shift toward a more comprehensive view of prehospital airway management, taking into account not only the location where airway management is attempted but also the drugs administered, the airway management devices used, and the skills of the main professional figures attending the scene.ConclusionsLiterature about this topic is still inconclusive; however, new evidence taking into consideration more complex aspects of airway management rather than orotracheal intubation per se shows improved outcomes with aggressive prehospital airway management.Copyright © 2019 Air Medical Journal Associates. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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