RT Book, Section
A1 Inozemtsev, Konstantin
A1 Voronov, Gennadiy G.
A1 Nasr, Ned F.
A2 Reichman, Eric F.
SR Print(0)
ID 1159794187
T1 Management of the Difficult Airway
T2 Reichman's Emergency Medicine Procedures, 3e
YR 2018
FD 2018
PB McGraw-Hill Education
PP New York, NY
SN 9781259861925
LK accessemergencymedicine.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1159794187
RD 2022/05/23
AB The  definition  of  a  difficult  airway  has  remained  nebulous  despite  ongoing  international  effort  due  to  the  complexity  and  variety  of  factors  constituting  this  phenomenon.  The  latest  practice  guidelines  by  the  American  Society  of  Anesthesiologists  (ASA)  simply  define  a  difficult  airway  as  an  airway  that,  to  a  conventionally  trained  provider,  presents  a  challenge  in  terms  of  intubation,  ventilation,  or  both.1  The  reported  incidence  of  a  difficult  airway  in  the  literature  varies.  Difficult  mask  ventilation  occurs  in  approximately  2%  of  cases,  with  impossible  mask  ventilation  occurring  in  0.15%  of  cases.2,3  Difficult  intubation  occurs  in  approximately  5%  of  cases,  with  impossible  intubation  (i.e.,  failed  intubation  after  multiple  attempts  at  direct  laryngoscopy)  occurring  in  0.3%  to  0.5%  of  cases.4  The  incidence  of  both  occurring  in  combination  is  very  low,  at  less  than  2  in  10,000  intubations.2