OVERVIEW Consent is the acceptance or approval of what is planned or done by another The process by which a patient is informed and voluntarily allowing a procedure or investigation to be performed on themselves, having considered the risks and…
Capacity and competence are terms that are often used interchangeably. Capacity is a functional term that refers to the mental or cognitive ability to understand the nature and effects of one's acts . Competence is a legal term that can be defined as being "duly qualified: having sufficient, capacity, ability or authority" — in practice it requires health professionals to perform a functional test of competence to examine the ability of the particular patient to consent to the specific treatment being offered
Delayed sequence intubation (DSI) is procedural sedation, where the procedure is preoxygenation. DSI may be useful in the patient for whom rapid sequence intubation would inevitably result in significant hypoxaemia because they cannot be preoxygenated by other means
A child or minor is a person who is younger than the age of majority. In Australia the age of majority is 18 years, this is the age at which citizens can exercise all the civil rights available to Australians
Complete obstruction of the upper airway occurs when there is inability to talk, cough or breath. Apnea and cyanosis are present and paradoxical respirations may be noted.
Cricoid pressure aka Sellick manoeuvre or, most accurately, cricoid force;the technique was first described in 1961 by Sellick to prevent aspiration, though Monroe used a similar method in 1774 to prevent gastric insufflation
OVERVIEW AN APPROACH References and Links
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)
Bougie, aka Eschmann tracheal tube introducer. the name "gum elastic bougie" is erroneous - it is not made of resins, it is not elastic and it is not used for dilatation
Trismus classically refers to reduced opening of the jaws caused by spasm of the muscles of mastication (temporalis, masseter, medial pterygoid and lateral pterygoid). Trismus may also be used to refer to restricted mouth opening in general
The urine drug screen, or urine toxicology screen, is a qualitative assay performed to indicate the presence or absence of a suspected drug
Digital intubation allows intubation to be performed without a laryngoscope or a view of the larynx; may be performed with or without a bougie