Emergency surgical cricothyroidotomy: 24 successful cases leading to a simple 'scalpel-finger-tube' method.
Surgical airway access justifiably remains the final option for managing the 'can't intubate can't ventilate' situation, but available techniques are often complicated and might require special equipment. This paper reports on the real world experience of two experienced Australian medical specialists with backgrounds in Anaesthesia and Aeromedical Retrieval who performed 24 surgical airways, mainly under adverse prehospital conditions, over a combined 40 years of practice. All attempts were successful, the majority through a simple open 'scalpel-finger-tube' method, which is described here.
MedSTAR Emergency Medical Retrieval Service, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. flyingdoc@bigpond.com
Bruce R
BR
Paix
William M
WM
Griggs
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000402:Airway Obstruction / Q000601:surgery*; D001315:Australia; D003413:Cricoid Cartilage / Q000601:surgery; D004632:Emergency Medical Services / Q000379:methods*; D004638:Emergency Treatment / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D014139:Tracheostomy / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*