Critical care clinics
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Critical care clinics · Jul 2000
ReviewOrganization of personnel and resources for airway management in the hospital and office environment.
Good airway management depends on a system that emphasizes teamwork to expedite care and minimize errors. By understanding the accreditation and licensing requirements, appropriate personnel and equipment can be allocated along cost effective guidelines. Newer techniques for management of the difficult airway, such as the laryngeal mask airway (LMA; LMA North America, San Diego, CA) and flexible fiberoptic bronchoscope, provide alternatives to the emergency cricothyrotomy. A program of continuous quality improvement and clinical guidelines will enhance patient care and suggest intelligent use of airway resources.
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Critical care clinics · Jul 2000
ReviewBridges to establish an emergency airway and alternate intubating techniques.
In this article, a number of alternatives to direct laryngoscopy are examined. These alternatives include the laryngeal mask airway (LMA; LMA North America, San Diego, CA), cuffed oropharyngeal airway (COPA; Mallinckrodt, St. Louis, MO), and Combitube (Kendall-Sheridan, Mansfield, MA), that have been designed to act as bridges to establish an airway. Other devices, such as rigid stylets, the lightwand (a blind technique) and indirect fiberoptic rigid stylets, such as the Bullard scope, Upsher scope, and Wu scope are also briefly discussed.