Airway Management Flashcards
In the normal adult, the glottis is at the level of the ___ cervical vertebra
5th
Mallampati classification Neck ROM TMD Mouth opening Teeth Potential difficult Bag-Mask Ventilation BONES
Pre-operative airway assessment
What is usually the main cause of airway obstruction?
Tongue
What can relieve an airway obstruction from the tongue? If that doesn’t work, what is your next step?
Chin lift/jaw thrust… next step oral or nasal airway
Do you use an oral airway in a patient with an active gag reflex?
NO
Where do you measure for an oral airway?
Nose to angle of mandible
1 complication of nasal airway?
Hemorhage
What are contraindications for nasal airways?
Coagulopathies and head trauma
Can be used whenever a face mask can be used, allows for one handed ventilation, forms a seal around he larynx, less stimulation than ET tube
Laryngeal mask airway
Suspected gastric contents Gross obesity Pregnancy Acute abdomen Thoracic injury Heavy opiate intoxication Hiatal hernia Low pulmonary compliance
Contraindications to LMAs
Used for controlled ventilation or compromise or inaccessibility of airway, pregnancy, airway disease or distortion, loss of gag reflex
Endotracheal intubation
Macintosh blade
Curved blade
Miller or wisconsin blade
Straight blade
The laryngoscope is always held in the ___ hand
Left
Size for female ET tube
7-7.5
Size for male ET tube
7.5-9
Cuff pressure should not exceed ____ torr
25
_____ ____ enables to align the axes of the patient’s mouth, pharynx and larynx permitting direct visualization of the larynx during laryngoscopy
Sniffing position
Tip of blade rests in the valecula and the epiglotis is lifted indirectly and incompletely (easier, better tongue displacement)
Curved blade
Tip of blade is inserted beneath the epiglotis and lifts it directly and more completely (enhanced visualization, long floppy epiglotis)
Straight blade
Full view of the glottis
Grade 1 Cormack and Lehane
Only the posterior commissure is visible
Grade 2 Cormack and Lehane
Only the epiglottis is seen
Grade 3 Cormack and Lehane
No epiglottis or glottis structure visible
Grade 4 Cormack and Lehane
Normal adults should be able to open their mouth a minimum of ____ to ___ cm or three fingers
4-6
