CRICOTHYROTOMY

Approaches to managing the upper airway

Anesthesiologists traditionally approach airway management and maintenance of a patent airway through translaryngeal techniques. Most of the techniques and devices routinely used in clinical practice (orotracheal intubation, nasotracheal intubation, laryngeal mask airway, Combitube, fiberoptic intubation, and so forth) maintain airway patency by way of manipulation of components of the upper airway. Successful maintenance of a patient airway involves a detailed understanding of the interaction of each device or technique with the structures of the upper airway. The goals of this article are to review the skills commensurate with successful recognition of airway problems and management of the patient with a known or suspected difficult airway.

Cricothyroidotomy and the anatomy of the cricothyroid space. An autopsy study

Airway management is one of the main dictums in anaesthesia, emergency medicine and critical care. Endotracheal intubation, tracheostomy and cricothyroidotomy are all approved methods to secure a patient's airway. Cricothyroidotomy is performed in the space between the anterior inferior border of the thyroid cartilage and the anterior superior border of the cricoid cartilage. We studied 107 autopsies with special interest in the anatomy of the cricothyroid space.