• Geoffrey S Kelly, Aylin Tekes-Brady, and Nathan Michael Woltman.
• From the Departments of Emergency Medicine.
• Pediatr Emerg Care. 2022 Sep 1; 38 (9): e1533e1537e1533-e1537.

BackgroundThe cricothyroid membrane (CTM) is the most important anatomic structure when performing emergency front-of-neck access (FONA) procedures. Adolescence is a period of rapid morphologic change in laryngeal structures, including the CTM. We hypothesized that the adolescent CTM would be sufficiently different from pediatric or adult anatomy to merit special consideration in FONA.ObjectiveThe aim of the study was to define the procedurally relevant CTM anatomy in an adolescent population.MethodsThis was a retrospective, multicenter cohort study composed of patients who underwent a diagnostic computed tomography scan during routine clinical care. Inclusion criteria were ages 16 to 19 years and a computed tomography of the neck with or without contrast. The primary outcome was CTM height measured in the midsagittal plane using electronic calipers.ResultsOne hundred thirty-four imaging studies met inclusion criteria. The average CTM height was strongly associated with age and ranged between 5.4 and 6.2 mm in male adolescents and 4.6 and 5.8 mm in female adolescents. We predicted that standard cuffed endotracheal and tracheostomy tubes recommended for FONA procedures (5.0- and 6.0-mm devices) could potentially fail for most patients in our cohort.ConclusionsThe adolescent CTM is smaller than previously recognized. We recommend having a variety of equipment sizes readily available at any site where airway management in adolescents may occur.Copyright © 2022 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.

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