Airway Assessment

Question 1

What does the lateral wall of the nasal passage consist of?

Answer 1

Turbinates
1. Superior turbinate
2. Middle turbinate
3. Inferior turbinate

Question 2

What do the turbinates do?

Answer 2

Divide the nasal passage into 3 scroll-shaped meatuses
1.inferior meatus
2. Middle meatus
3. Superior meatus

Question 3

What is the preferred pathway for passage of nasal airway devices?

Answer 3

Inferior meatus

Question 4

We give ________ to prevent bleeding w/ nasal intubation. It’s MOA is _________.

Answer 4

Afrin (Oxymetazoline); vasoconstrictor

Question 5

The roof of the mouth is made of _______, ________, and _______.

Answer 5

Hard palate, soft palate, teeth

Question 6

What does the hard palate consist of?

Answer 6

Formed by parts of the maxilla & palatine bone (make up the anterior 2/3 of the roof of the mouth)

Question 7

_______, ______, and_______ make up the floor of the mouth.

Answer 7

Tongue, mandible, teeth

Question 8

Frenulectomy & concerns

Answer 8

• procedure that cuts the cartilage at the bottom of the tongue - treats “tongue tied”
• pt. not intubated & they are bleeding in the mouth

Question 9

What is the muscular tube that runs from the base of the skull to the lower border of the cricoid cartilage? What is the purpose of it?

Answer 9

• pharynx
• helps maintain airway patency in the awake pt.

Question 10

Where does the nasopharynx end? What are the anesthesia concerns with this area?

Answer 10

• The soft palate
• It is a common site of airway obstruction with both awake & anesthetized patients

Question 11

What is the area from the soft palate to the epiglottis?

Answer 11

Oropharynx - this area causes the most problems for us

Question 12

The ____ is the area from the epiglottis to the cricoid cartilage.

Answer 12

Hypopharynx

Question 13

What does the pharynx join?

Answer 13

The nasal & oral cavities w/ the larynx and esophagus

Question 14

Where is the larynx?

Answer 14

epiglottis to the lower end of the cricoid cartilage

Question 15

What is the Thyrohoid membrane?

Answer 15

Suspends the larynx from the hyoid bone

Question 16

Unpaired laryngeal cartilages

Answer 16

1. Thyroid: largest & supports most of the soft tissues of the larynx
2. cricoid: complete ring
3. Epiglottis

Question 17

Paired Laryngeal Cartilages

Answer 17

1. Arytenoid
2. Corniculate
3. Cuneiform

Question 18

Where are the true vocal cords?

Answer 18

• attach to the arytenoids and the thyroid notch on the thyroid cartilage
• above the arytenoids

Question 20

The ____ extends from the inferior cricoid membrane to the carina

Answer 20

Trachea
* 10-15cm in an adult
* C-shaped cartilage

Question 21

Anterior & Posterior parts of the trachea

Answer 21

• The trachea is closed posteriorly by the longitudinal trachealis muscle
• Anteriorly - it is bound by tracheal rings