Anesthesia and analgesia
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Dec 2007
Case ReportsEmergent retrograde tracheal intubation with a gum-elastic bougie in a trauma patient.
Patients with severe maxillofacial trauma pose a challenge when their airways must be secured. Often, emergent surgical airways are established when largyngoscopy or fiberoptic intubation are unsuccessful. When an airway cannot be surgically established, the anesthesiologist is forced to use novel approaches to airway management, but there are few descriptions of such techniques in the literature. ⋯ When an uncontrolled airway cannot be secured surgically and a tracheal defect is present, retrograde intubation with a gum-elastic bougie may be considered as an emergent management option.