The LITFL Critical Care Compendium is a comprehensive collection of pages concisely covering the core topics and controversies of critical care.
Airway and Cervical Spine Injury. about 30% of trauma patients (depending on the study) require intubation <30 minutes of arrival in ED. airway management must take into account the risk of coexistent cervical spine injury, the mantra being "airway management with cervical spine stabilisation"
airway obstruction or disruption is an important cause of death and morbidity in major trauma, although intubation may be indicate for a number of other reasons
This video is from the Greater Sydney Area HEMS blogpost on Rapid Sequence Intubation in Retrieval Medicine
The paediatric airway differs from that of adults in terms of anatomy, and there are important management implications
Intubation in Upper Gastrointestinal Haemorrhage may be complicated by obscured laryngeal exposure due to blood or vomitus
Tracheo-esophageal fistula the most important cause of an inspiratory air leak in an intubated / tracheostomsied patient
OVERVIEW The ‘Coroner’s clot’ is an occult clot of blood remaining in the nasopharynx behind the soft palate following local surgery or trauma that has the potential to cause fatal airway obstruction following extubation/ removal of a supraglottic airway device (SAD) So named…
Suction Assisted Laryngoscopy Airway Decontamination (SALAD) is the term coined by Jim Du Canto and colleagues for a suction technique used to preventing airway soiling during laryngoscopy when there is profuse regurgitation
Unplanned extubation of mechanically ventilated patients is relatively common ( 0·5% to 14·2% of ICU patients in most studies, higher in a few outliers)
Video laryngoscopy: multiple types of video-assisted laryngoscope devices are available. Four step procedure (Mouth - Screen - Mouth - Screen):
This is an airway emergency with upper airway obstruction in a paediatric patient.
Here is the 14th update to the Critical Care Compendium, your LITFL guide to the core and not-so-core knowledge base required of a critical care physician.