Emergency management of the airway outside the operating room

Successful emergency airway intervention incorporates the anaesthetist's basic skills in airway management with the knowledge of the special nature of the clinical problems that arise outside the operating room. While a thorough but rapid evaluation of the key anatomical and physiological factors of an individual patient may result in an obvious choice for optimal management, clinical problems often arise in which there is not an evident "best approach." In these less clear-cut situations, the anaesthetist may do well to employ those techniques with which she/he has the greatest skills and experience. At times, however, some degree of creative improvisation is required to care for an especially difficult problem.