title: Choking on a foreign body: a physiological study of the effectiveness of abdominal thrust manoeuvres to increase thoracic pressure.
abstract: The Heimlich manoeuvre is a well-known intervention for the management of choking due to foreign body airway occlusion, but the evidence base for guidance on this topic is limited and guidelines differ. We measured pressures during abdominal thrusts in healthy volunteers. The angle at which thrusts were performed (upthrust vs circumferential) did not affect intrathoracic pressure. Self-administered abdominal thrusts produced similar pressures to those performed by another person. Chair thrusts, where the subject pushed their upper abdomen against a chair back, produced higher pressures than other manoeuvres. Both approaches should be included in basic life support teaching.
authors.affiliation: NIHR Respiratory Biomedical Research Unit, Royal Brompton Hospital and Harefield NHS Foundation Trust and Imperial College, London, UK.
authors.forename: Matthew J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Pavitt
authors.affiliation: NIHR Respiratory Biomedical Research Unit, Royal Brompton Hospital and Harefield NHS Foundation Trust and Imperial College, London, UK.
authors.forename: Laura L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Swanton
authors.affiliation: NIHR Respiratory Biomedical Research Unit, Royal Brompton Hospital and Harefield NHS Foundation Trust and Imperial College, London, UK.
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hind
authors.affiliation: NIHR Respiratory Biomedical Research Unit, Royal Brompton Hospital and Harefield NHS Foundation Trust and Imperial College, London, UK.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Apps
authors.affiliation: NIHR Respiratory Biomedical Research Unit, Royal Brompton Hospital and Harefield NHS Foundation Trust and Imperial College, London, UK.
authors.forename: Michael I
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Polkey
authors.affiliation: NIHR Respiratory Biomedical Research Unit, Royal Brompton Hospital and Harefield NHS Foundation Trust and Imperial College, London, UK.
authors.forename: Malcolm
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Green
authors.affiliation: NIHR Respiratory Biomedical Research Unit, Royal Brompton Hospital and Harefield NHS Foundation Trust and Imperial College, London, UK.
authors.forename: Nicholas S
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-3235-0454
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Hopkinson
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000399:Air Pressure; D000402:Airway Obstruction / Q000628:therapy*; D005502:Food; D005547:Foreign Bodies / Q000628:therapy*; D059746:Heimlich Maneuver / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013909:Thorax / Q000503:physiopathology
keywords: Respiratory Measurement