Advancing emergency airway management practice and research

Area of Science:

• Emergency Medicine
• Critical Care
• Anesthesiology

Background:

• Emergency airway management is crucial for critically ill patients.
• Suboptimal intubation performance and high adverse event rates are documented in emergency departments (EDs).
• Optimal strategies for emergency airway management require further establishment and dissemination.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review current literature on emergency airway management.
• To focus on airway management algorithms, first-pass success, and rescue intubation strategies.
• To summarize evidence for key airway management processes and patient populations.

Main Methods:

• Literature review of published works on emergency airway management.
• Focus on algorithms, first-pass success, and rescue strategies.
• Summary of evidence for assessment, preparation, intubation methods, medications, devices, and rescue techniques in specific patient groups.

Main Results:

• Current evidence for various airway management components is summarized.
• Specific attention is given to difficult airway assessment, preparation, and intubation techniques.
• Review covers devices like video laryngoscopy and supraglottic devices, alongside rescue strategies.

Conclusions:

• Well-designed, multicenter studies are needed to improve airway management quality and safety.
• Further research will advance optimal strategy determination and clinical guideline development.
• Improved practices will ultimately enhance outcomes for critically ill and injured patients in the ED.