Lung separation techniques in the morbidly obese patient undergoing thoracic or esophageal surgery may be at risk of complications during airway management. Access to the airway in the obese patient can be a challenge because they have altered airway anatomy, including a short and redundant neck, limited neck extension and accumulation of fat deposition in the pharyngeal wall contributing to di...

Management of difficult tracheal intubation has been facilitated by different techniques which include the use of stylets, introducers, intubating laryngeal mask airway, as well as by the development of special laryngoscope blades and fiberoptic laryngoscopes. The most recent advances for facilitation of difficult tracheal intubation is the introduction of the video-assisted laryngoscopes. The ...

A preliminary report is presented of a technique for using the C-MAC videolaryngoscope to carry out nasopharyngeal intubations. The main thrust of the technique is that cuff inflation of the endotracheal tube is used to lift the endotracheal tube off the posterior pharyngeal wall and thus direct it towards the glottis. The technique was used successfully in 5 consecutive patients needing nasotr...

Tracheostomy tubes are used to administer positive-pressure ventilation, to provide a patent airway, to provide protection from aspiration, and to provide access to the lower respiratory tract for airway clearance. They are available in a variety of sizes and styles, from several manufacturers. The dimensions of tracheostomy tubes are given by their inner diameter, outer diameter, length, and c...

There are 3 different pharynxes (Figure 1). The nasopharynx, or velopharynx, is the airspace posterior to all of the soft palate; the oropharynx is the airspace posterior to the tip of the uvula to the tip of the epiglottis; and the laryngopharynx, or hypopharynx, is the airspace posterior to the tip of the epiglottis to the vocal cords. The adult human is one of only a few animals to have a sp...

Intimal thickening in human arteries is considered as a site of predilection for atherosclerosis. The placement of a flexible, physically nonconstrictive, silicone cuff around the rabbit carotid artery induced a neointima composed of smooth muscle cells (SMCs) within 14 days. To investigate possible alterations of the endothelial cells (ECs) during neointima formation, their morphology was exam...

The mammalian pharynx is a hollow muscular tube that participates in ingestion and respiration, and its size, shape, and stiffness can be altered by contraction of skeletal muscles that lie inside or outside of its walls. MRI was used to determine the interaction between pharyngeal pressure and selective stimulation of extrinsic tongue muscles on the shape of the rat nasopharynx. Pressure (-9, ...

BACKGROUND During sedation for upper gastrointestinal endoscopy, oxygen delivery via a nasal cannula is often necessary. However, the influences of the oxygen delivery route and breathing pattern on the F(IO2) have not been thoroughly investigated. The aim of this simulation study was to investigate the difference in the F(IO2) with a pharyngeal cannula versus nasal cannula during high- or low-...