title: Emergency airway management: the difficult airway.
abstract: Patients requiring airway management in the emergency department present an enormous challenge. It requires not only a firm concept of techniques for securing the airway but also of dealing with the potential difficult airway (DA) in which establishing a definite airway is not possible with techniques routinely used. This article highlights the importance of recognition and management of the DA in emergent situations. Both awake and nonawake intubation are discussed, and indications and guidelines are given for the use of nonsurgical and surgical airway interventions.
authors.affiliation: Division of Emergency Medicine, Montreal General Hospital, McGill University Health Center, 1650 Cedar Avenue, Montreal, Quebec H3G 1A4, Canada. joe.nemeth@mcgill.ca
authors.forename: Joe
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Nemeth
authors.forename: Nisreen
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Maghraby
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kazim
mesh_terms: D058109:Airway Management / Q000379:methods*; D000402:Airway Obstruction / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis; D004630:Emergencies; D006801:Humans