-
- T Muehlberger, D Kunar, A Munster, and M Couch.
- Department of Surgery, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.
- Arch Otolaryngol. 1998 Sep 1; 124 (9): 1003-7.
BackgroundA significant proportion of burn patients with inhalation injuries incur difficulties with airway protection, dysphagia, and aspiration. In assessing the need for intubation in burn patients, the efficacy of fiberoptic laryngoscopy was compared with clinical findings and the findings of diagnostic tests, such as arterial blood gas analysis, measurement of carboxyhemoglobin levels, pulmonary function tests, and radiography of the lateral aspect of the neck.ObjectiveTo determine if these patients were at risk for aspiration or dysphagia, barium-enhanced fluoroscopic swallowing studies were performed.DesignProspective study.SettingsBurn intensive care unit in an academic tertiary referral center.Main Outcome MeasuresNeed for endotracheal intubation and potential for aspiration.ResultsSix (55%) of 11 patients had clinical findings and symptoms that indicated, under traditional criteria, endotracheal intubation for airway protection. Visualization of the upper airway with fiberoptic laryngoscopy obviated the need for endotracheal intubation in all 11 patients. These patients also failed to evidence an increased risk of aspiration or other swallowing dysfunction.ConclusionsIn comparison with other diagnostic criteria, fiberoptic laryngoscopy allows differentiation of those patients with inhalation injuries who, while at risk for upper airway obstruction, do not require intubation. These patients may be safely observed in a monitored setting with serial fiberoptic examinations, thus avoiding the possible complications associated with intubation of an airway with a compromised mucosalized surface. In these patients, swallowing abnormalities do not manifest.
Notes
Knowledge, pearl, summary or comment to share?You can also include formatting, links, images and footnotes in your notes
- Simple formatting can be added to notes, such as
*italics*
,_underline_
or**bold**
. - Superscript can be denoted by
<sup>text</sup>
and subscript<sub>text</sub>
. - Numbered or bulleted lists can be created using either numbered lines
1. 2. 3.
, hyphens-
or asterisks*
. - Links can be included with:
[my link to pubmed](http://pubmed.com)
- Images can be included with:
![alt text](https://bestmedicaljournal.com/study_graph.jpg "Image Title Text")
- For footnotes use
[^1](This is a footnote.)
inline. - Or use an inline reference
[^1]
to refer to a longer footnote elseweher in the document[^1]: This is a long footnote.
.