The pharyngeal airway is surrounded by soft tissues that are also enclosed by bony structures such as the mandible, maxilla, and cervical spine. The passive pharyngeal airway is therefore structurally analogous to a collapsible tube within a rigid box. Cross-sectional area of the tube is determined by transmural pressure, the pressure difference between intraluminal and extraluminal pressures. ...

The I-gel™ is a single-use supraglottic airway device introduced in 2007 which features a non-inflatable cuff and allows passage of a tracheal tube owing to its large diameter and short length of the airway tube. In this case, the authors experienced a difficult airway management on a 4-year-old boy with underlying Goldenhar syndrome who underwent a tonsillectomy. Intubation using a laryngoscop...

BACKGROUND To assess the adequacy of the position of the tracheal tube cuff and tracheal tube tip in the recently introduced preformed oral Microcuff paediatric endotracheal tube (PET) using the manufacturers recommendations for Microcuff tracheal tube size selection. METHODS With Hospital Ethics Committee approval and informed parental consent, the tracheas of children from birth to adolesce...

BACKGROUND & AIMS The presence of a nasogastric tube (NGT) affects swallowing physiology but not function in healthy young adults. The swallowing mechanism changes with increasing age, therefore the impact of a NGT on swallowing in elderly individuals is likely to be different but is not yet known. The aims of this study were to determine the effects of NGTs of different diameter on (1) airway ...

A young child’s larynx was formerly believed to be narrowest at the cricoid level, circular in section, and funnel shaped. This supported routine use of uncuffed endotracheal tubes children despite benefits cuffed tubes, such as lower risk for air leakage aspiration. In late 1990s, evidence supporting pediatric emerged largely from anesthesiology studies, while some technical flaws remained a...

UNLABELLED BACKGROUND This clinical study evaluated the effect of a suctioning maneuver on aspiration past the cuff during mechanical ventilation. METHODS Patients intubated for less than 48 hours with a PVC-cuffed tracheal tube, under mechanical ventilation with a PEEP ≥5 cm H2O and under continuous sedation, were included in the study. At baseline the cuff pressure was set at 30 cm H2O. ...

Tracheotomy is used to keep and control airways open and protect them in head and neck operations.1-3 Tracheotomy is opening a direct airway through an incision in the trachea observed as a stoma in the lower throat and it is usually performed in serious head and neck traumas, tumors, bleedings and cases that intubation with endotracheal tube is not possible. This method has several advantages ...

Introduction: To present and assess a newly designed autoclavable, reusable tube shield for an endotracheal tube (ETT) during laser laryngeal surgery.   Materials and Methods: This study included patients scheduled for endolaryngeal laser surgery. A carbonated stainless-steel hemisphere shield (~1.5×0.6 mm) connected to a silk thread passing through a hole in its middle near upper edge was ...