The current trend of emergency airway management: a clinical review

Clin Exp Emerg Med. 2024 Mar 15. doi: 10.15441/ceem.23.173. Online ahead of print.

Abstract

Airway management is a fundamental and intricate process that involves a sequence of integrated tasks. Situations requiring emergency airway management may occur in emergency department, intensive care units, and various other spaces. Emergency airway management can face a variety of challenges during preparation, intubation, and post-intubation, and may result in significant complications for the patients. Therefore, many countries are establishing step-by-step systemization and detailed guidelines, and updating the content based on the latest research. This clinical review introduces the current trends in emergency airway management, such as emergency airway management algorithms, comparison of video and direct laryngoscopy, rapid sequence intubation, pediatric airway management, pre-hospital airway management, surgical airway management, and airway management education.

Keywords: emergency medicine; intubation; rapid sequence intubation; Airway management.