Basic airway management Flashcards
Which patients are at risk of airway compromise?
Unconscious/Impaired consciousness
Heavily sedated
Anaesthetised
How would you initially assess an airway?
Speak to patient
- look for misting of O2 mask, use of accessory muscles, rise and fall of chest, paradoxical breathing
- position of patient, tracheal deviation
What noises are heard in partial and complete obstruction?
Partial = noisy breathing, snoring, gurgling, periods of apnoea followed by hyperventilation or all of these
Complete = (unless treated) will lead to hypoxia within 1 or 2 minutes with bradycardia and death a few minutes later
Describe the anatomy of the airway
naso-pharynx – oropharynx – laryngopharynx – larynx
Name some complications of airway management
Invoking gag reflex, inducing vomiting, causing trauma
to soft tissues,
What equipment needs to be checked during preparation before use?
equipment is all intact, gas flow, reservoir bag fills, pressure relief valve works when occluded if present.
What are the airway manouvres we can use first?
When would you use each?
Head tilt - chin lift
Jaw thrust (in suspected C-Spine injury)
Always reassess to confirm air entry
Explain the use of suction in airway management
wide bore rigid sucker (Yankeur) – by direct vision only, down the sides, gently, suction on removal.
fine bore flexible suction catheter – used in conjunction with a naso-pharyngeal tube when oral access is not possible
What are the contraindications to using an oropharyngeal airway?
How do we size an OPA?
How is an OPA inserted?
CIs: consciousness, oral trauma
Measures from angle of mandible to centre of incisors or gums
insert upside down and then rotates through 180 degrees
REASSESS
What are the contraindications to using a nasopharyngeal airway?
How do we size an NPA?
CIs: #Base of skull/mid third of face, nasal polyps, deviated septum, coagulopathy
size 6 for an adult female or small male, size 7 for an adult male or large female
