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5.1.3 - Difficult Intubation Guidelines and Failed Airway Management

from Section 5.1 - Practical Respiratory System

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 July 2023

Ned Gilbert-Kawai
Affiliation:
The Royal Liverpool Hospital
Debashish Dutta
Affiliation:
Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust, Harlow
Carl Waldmann
Affiliation:
Royal Berkshire Hospital, Reading
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Summary

Key Learning Points

  1. 1. Poor airway assessment and planning and failure to follow guidelines were highlighted as major issues in the Royal College of Anaesthetists 4th National Audit Project (NAP4). A lack of equipment was identified as an issue particularly prevalent in the intensive care environment.

  2. 2. Factors which enable prediction of a difficult airway should be assessed for early to allow appropriate forward planning.

  3. 3. It is important to have a well-organised, appropriately stocked and signposted difficult airway trolley, with regular teaching and updates to ensure all staff groups are familiar with the equipment.

  4. 4. Thorough knowledge of the Difficult Airway Society’s guidelines on how to manage an unpredicted difficult airway in adults is essential. As of 2018, these include one specific to the intensive care unit Guidelines for the management of tracheal intubation in critically ill adults’.

  5. 5. One must be able to appreciate the differences in emergency management of a tracheostomy (with a patent upper airway) and a laryngectomy (without a patent upper airway).

Type
Chapter
Information
Intensive Care Medicine
The Essential Guide
, pp. 526 - 533
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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References

References and Further Reading

Cook, T, Woodall, N, Frerk, C. NAP4: Major complications of airway management in the United Kingdom. Report and findings March 2011. 4th National Audit Project of The Royal College of Anaesthetists and The Difficult Airway Society. London: The Royal College of Anaesthetists; 2011.Google Scholar
Crawley, SM, Dalton, AJ. Predicting the difficult airway. Contin Educ Anaesth Crit Care Pain 2015;15:253–7.Google Scholar
Frerk, C, Mitchell, VS, McNarry, AF, et al.; Difficult Airway Society intubation guidelines working group. Difficult Airway Society 2015 guidelines for management of unanticipated difficult intubation in adults. Br J Anaesth 2015;115:827–48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Higgs, A, McGrath, BA, Goddard, C, et al. Guidelines for the management of tracheal intubation in critically ill adults. Br J Anaesth 2018;120:323–52.Google Scholar
McGrath, BA, Bates, L, Atkinson, D, et al. Multidisciplinary guidelines for the management of tracheostomy and laryngectomy airway emergencies. Anaesthesia 2012;67:1025–41.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Seo, S-H, Lee, J-G, Yu, S-B, et al. Predictors of difficult intubation defined by the intubation difficulty scale (IDS): predictive value of 7 airway assessment factors. Korean J Anesthesiol 2012;63:491–7.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed

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