Airway Flashcards
The primary objective of managing a patients airway is what?
To ensure optimal ventilation
How long does it take for airway or ventilatory problems to create injury or death in the brain?
4-6 minutes
What is the primary function of the respiratory system?
Provide a conduit for oxygen to enter the body and CO2 to exit the body
Respiration is what?
The process by which the body exchanges gases in the alveoli
What does the upper airway consist of?
Nose, Nasal cavities, oral cavities, pharynx, and larynx
What is the function of the upper airway?
To filter, warm, and humidify the air, protecting the surfaces of the lower respiratory tract
What does mucus do?
A secretion that lubricates and traps fine particulate matter that may enter the airway.
What are the three parts of the pharynx?
Nasopharynx, Oropharynx, and Laryngopharynx
What divides the nasal cavity into halves?
Nasal Septum
Eustachian tubes are what?
Auditory tubes from the ears
The anterior oropharynx includes what?
lips, cheeks, teeth, tongue, and hard and soft palates.
The posterior oropharynx includes what?
It opens into the oropharynx, which extends down to the epiglottis
How many teeth do adults have?
32
What is the leading cause airway obstruction in an unresponsive patient?
The tongue
What does the hyoid bone attach to and do?
It attaches to the tongue and is its primary anchor along with supporting the trachea and larynx by means of several ligaments
What is the uvula?
Fleshy tissue resembling a grape that hangs down from the middle of the soft palate.
What ends and what begins at the Uvula?
The nasopharynx ends at the uvula and the oropharynx begins.
Stimulation of the posterior pharynx triggers what?
The gag reflex
The adenoids are also called what?
Pharyngeal tonsils
The laryngopharynx helps in what what and extends from what part to what part?
It functions in respirations and digestion and extends from the epiglottis to the glottis
What is the leaflike structure composed of cartilage that serves as the gatekeeper into the larynx and prevents food from entering the lower airway?
Epiglottis
What means little valley and is a landmark between the base of the tongue and the epiglottis?
Vallecula
What joins the pharynx to the trachea prevents food and foreign substance from entering the trachea and houses the vocal chords?
Larynx
What composes the true vocal chords and the space between them?
The glottis
Pressure on the cricoid cartilage that occludes the esophagus reducing the risk of aspiration is called what?
Sellick maneuver or cricoid pressure
The membrane in between the cricoid cartilage and the thyroid cartilage is a fibrous membrane called?
Cricothyroid membrane
What does the lower airway consist of?
Trachea, Bronchial Tree, primary bronchi, secondary bronchi, bronchioles, lungs, and alveoli
Approximately how long is the trachea in an adult before it bifurcates into the right and left bronchi?
10-12cm
What is the point where the trachea divides?
Carina
The point of entry for the bronchial vessels, bronchi, and nerves in each lung is called?
The hilum
What lubricates the alveoli, decreasing surface tension and facilitating ease of expansion?
Surfactant
Alveolar collapse is called what?
Atelectasis
What lines the surface of the lungs?
The Pleura
In pediatric patients what should be done differently when ventilating?
Padding under the torso because of a large head.
Hyperextension and hyperflexion can occlude an airway because cartilaginous rings of the trachea do not fully develop until 8 yrs old.
The tongue occupies greater space in the oral cavity.
In infants the epiglottis is large, long and U-shaped.
The larynx in the ped. is located at C1-C4 as opposed to an adult where it is located at C4-C7.
The child has two separate channels one for food and one for air. The epiglottis can pass behind the soft palate and lock into the nasopharynx. This connection is constant except in crying and disease. At age 7 the epiglottis no longer attaches to the soft palate and is located at C3-C5.
The Diaphragm is horizontal in infants and results in decreased contraction efficiency.
Intercostal muscles are immature and fatigue easily.
Flexibility to ribs is much greater and can result in organ injury without rib fracture.
Peds. have fewer and smaller alveoli.
The short trachea of a child may result in right bronchi intubation or removal of the endotracheal tube also called?
Extubation
The mechanical process of moving air into and out of the lungs is called?
Ventilation
Where does the primary stimulus to breathe come from?
The Medulla oblongota
What prevents the overinflation of the lungs in a conscious, spontaneously breathing person?
The Hering-Breuer reflex
Each combination of inspiration and expiration is called what?
The respiratory cycle
Normal Tidal volume in an adult male is what?
500mL
What is Tidal volume for an infant?
8mL/kg
The exchange of gases between a living organism and its environment is called?
Respiration
The exchange of gases between the alveoli of the lungs and the red blood cells traveling through the pulmonary capillaries is called what?
External respiration
Gases exchanged between blood cells and tissues is called what?
Internal respiration
The pressure exerted by each individual gas in a mixture is called?
Partial pressure
What four main gases are found in the earths atmosphere?
Nitrogen, Oxygen, Water Vapor, and CO2
When hemoglobin has oxygen molecules bound to it what is it called?
oxyhemoglobin
A non-invasive way of measuring the percentage of oxygen bound to hemoglobin is what?
Pulse oximetry
Oxygen saturation above what number is considered normal?
98%
How much of venous hemoglobin is bound with CO2?
33%
What refers to a decreased amount of oxygen saturated hemoglobin in the blood stream?
Hypoxemia
What refers to a decreased amount of oxygen in the tissues?
Hypoxia
What is the most common cause of Hypoxia?
Hypoxemia
What is the earliest indication of hypoxia?
restlessness and anxiety
Why does cyanosis occur?
Circulating deoxygenated blood
Cyanosis occurs at what concentration?
5mg/dl or less
What is the initial management of hypoxia?
Providing supplemental oxygen or increasing ventilation
Any condition that results in hypoventilation increases what?
CO2 levels in the blood or hypercarbia
Any condition that results in hyperventilation leads to what?
hypocarbia or blowing off to much CO2
If the medulla fails to send signals for respiration what is the secondary control center?
The pons or apneustic center (control of inspiration) and pneumotaxic center (control of expiration)