For over 70 years, helium-oxygen mixture (heliox) has been promoted as adjunctive therapy to overcome airflow-obstructive disorders and lesions. In the past 2 decades heliox has gained widespread support in many pediatric emergency departments and intensive care units, in treatment of infants and children with both upper and lower airway obstruction. Because heliox is less dense than air or oxy...

OBJECTIVE The aim of the article is to review the effectiveness of neonatal noninvasive high-frequency ventilation (NIHFV) in preventing endotracheal mechanical ventilation. STUDY DESIGN Retrospective case series including all 79 instances of NIHFV use at four participating centers between July 2010 and September 2012. RESULTS In 73% of cases, NIHFV was used as rescue after another noninvas...

Understanding the differences between the infant upper airway and the adult upper airway is important in properly managing the infant and pediatric airway. Proper history and physical examination and selection of the appropriate endotracheal tubes, LMAs, and laryngoscopes are key to managing the normal infant and pediatric airway. The difficult infant and pediatric airway requires planning, pre...

Negative pressure pulmonary edema (NPPE) or postobstructive pulmonary edema (POPE) is a form of noncardiogenic pulmonary edema that results from the generation of high negative intrathoracic pressure needed to overcome upper airway obstruction 1. It typically develops rapidly and can be life-threatening if not diagnosed promptly. Following an episode of acute airway obstruction or the relief of...

Upper airway ultrasound is a valuable, non-invasive, simple, and portable point of care ultrasound (POCUS) for evaluation of airway management even in anatomy distorted by pathology or trauma. Ultrasound enables us to identify important sonoanatomy of the upper airway such as thyroid cartilage, epiglottis, cricoid cartilage, cricothyroid membrane, tracheal cartilages, and esophagus. Understandi...

OBJECTIVE To determine whether postextubation respiratory support via heated, humidified, high-flow nasal cannulae (HHHFNC) results in a greater proportion of infants younger than 32 weeks' gestation being successfully extubated after a period of endotracheal positive pressure ventilation compared with conventional nasal continuous positive airway pressure (NCPAP). STUDY DESIGN We randomly as...