Advanced airway adjuncts

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Airway Adjunct Pros Cons
Endotracheal tube introducer (e.g. gum elastic bougie)
  • Higher first pass success when used with direct laryngscope vs. styletted ET tube regardless of whether difficult airway was expected or not[1]
Lighted optical stylets
  • High success rate - especially good for trauma, c-spine precautions *Use for both reg and nasotrach
  • Lower complication rate
  • Limited by fogging, secretion, recognition of anatomy, cost, and rare provider experience
Supraglottic airway (e.g. LMA)
Combitube (i.e. esoph obturator)
  • Good for nurses and paramedics with limited intubation skill
  • Indicated if difficult airway predicted: cannot see glottis with laryngoscope
  • Reduced risk for aspiration compared to face mask or LMA *Can maintain spinal immobilization
Large size predisposes to esophogeal dilatation and laceration as a complication
Percutaneous transtracheal ventilation
  • Prefered over crithyrotomy in children up to age 10-12
  • Oxygenates well *Can use for 30-45 min
  • Can retain CO2 *May cause pneumothorax or barotrauma

See Also

Airway Pages

  1. Driver, B. E., Prekker, M. E., Klein, L. R., Reardon, R. F., Miner, J. R., Fagerstrom, E. T., … Cole, J. B. (2018). Effect of Use of a Bougie vs Endotracheal Tube and Stylet on First-Attempt Intubation Success Among Patients With Difficult Airways Undergoing Emergency Intubation: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association, 319(21), 2179–2189.