[Anaesthesia Induction in Non-fasting Patients - the Example of Pregnant Women and Children]

Aspiration during anesthesia induction is no triviality, but can lead to serious complications and mortality. The classic technique of rapid sequence induction (RSI) is a fundamental form of anesthesia induction in non-fasting patients to prevent pulmonary aspiration of gastric contents.Pregnant women and children pose a special challenge due to their hypoxia risk; the classical RSI concept "induction - apnea - (cricoid pressure -) intubation" can lead to hypoxia and therefore must be modified in favor of a controlled technique with preservation of oxygenation in this patient group. A controlled procedure with continuous oxygenation as far as possible should be used.The preparation of an RSI involves the careful selection of medicines, equipment and monitoring. An important quality criterion of RSI is the atraumatic airway management in deep anesthesia with profound muscle relaxation without resistance (coughing, choking, pressing) of the patient.