RT Book, Section
A1 Jang, Timothy
A1 Wagner, Jason C.
A2 Farcy, David A.
A2 Chiu, William C.
A2 Flaxman, Alex
A2 Marshall, John P.
SR Print(0)
ID 55810042
T1 Chapter 2. Approach to the Difficult Airway
T2 Critical Care Emergency Medicine
YR 2012
FD 2012
PB The McGraw-Hill Companies
PP New York, NY
SN 978-0-07-162824-2
LK accessemergencymedicine.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=55810042
RD 2024/04/20
AB A  difficult  airway  exists  in  a  patient  when  conventional  face  mask  ventilation  is  problematic  or  tracheal  intubation  is  difficult,  requiring  advanced  airway  skills  for  success.  Patient  factors  such  as  micrognathia,  a  short  neck,  a  large  tongue,  craniofacial  abnormalities,  pregnancy,  and  obesity  are  chronic  conditions  associated  with  a  difficult  airway  but  do  not  inherently  define  a  difficult  airway.  Other  conditions  such  as  angioedema,  epiglottitis,  Ludwig's  angina,  retropharyngeal  abscess,  tracheal  trauma,  traumatic/expanding  neck  hematoma,  and  cervical  trauma  are  examples  of  acute  factors  that  similarly  may  cause  a  difficult  airway  condition  to  exist.  When  patients  with  any  of  these  conditions  develop  dyspnea  or  respiratory  distress,  immediate  action  is  required  to  avert  life-threatening  decompensation  or  permanent  debility.  Furthermore,  these  patients  can  present  at  any  time:  a  patient  with  a  penetrating  neck  injury  may  present  to  an  ED  without  warning,  or  a  long-term  ICU  patient  with  diffuse  soft  tissue  edema  and  a  beard  may  unexpectedly  decompensate  and  require  intubation.  Therefore,  in  a  variety  of  settings,  clinicians  must  be  prepared  for  rapid  escalation  of  care  and  difficult  airway  management.