As promised, here are selected references from today’s talk on Airway Management Mythology. Thanks to the organizers of the International Conference on Emergency Medicine (ICEM) for the invitation to speak.
Some of the topics discussed are supported by plenty of evidence (ie the use of RSI as an intubation technique), some were simply fun to discuss (holding your breath while intubating) and some remain quite reasonably controversial (the use of etomidate for RSI in sepsis).
I highly recommend visiting Dr. Reuben Strayer’s blog for a brief and enlightening discussion of the use of rocuronium for RSI. Also, Dr. Scott Weingart’s EMCrit blog and podcasts are an excellent source for ED critical care topics. Finally, The Airway Site contains links to key airway management references as well as information on the Difficult Airway Course.
Selected References:
- Farmery AD, Roe PG: A model to describe the rate of oxyhemoglobin desaturation during apnoea. Br J Anaesth 1996; 76:284-91
- Naguib et al. Optimal dose of succinylcholine revisited. Anesthesiology 2003; 99:1045-1049
- Bozeman et al. A comparison of rapid sequence intubation and etomidate-only intubation in the prehospital air medical setting. Prehosp Emerg Care: 2006; 10:8-13
- Sackles et al. Airway management in the emergency department: a one-year study of 610 tracheal intubations. Ann Emerg Med 1998; 31:325-332
- Li J et al. Complications of emergency intubation with and without paralysis. AJEM 1999: 17(2); 141-143
- Mallon WK et al. Rocuronium vs. succinylcholine in the emergency department: A critical appraisal. JEM 37(2); 183-188
- Strayer RJ. Rocuronium vs. succinylcholine revisited. JEM 2010 Apr 22. [Epub ahead of print]
- Cardiopulmonary resuscitation by bystanders with chest compression only (SOS-KANTO): an observational study, Lancet 369 (2007), pp. 920–926.
- Bobrow et al. Passive oxygen insufflation is superior to bag-valve-mask ventilation for witnessed ventricular fibrillation out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. Ann Emerg Med. 2009;54:656-662.
- Brimacombe JR and Berry JM. Cricoid pressure. Can J Anaesth. 1997 Apr;44(4):414-25