Optimal Airway Management in Cardiac Arrest

Airway management during cardiac arrest has undergone several advancements. Endotracheal intubation (ETI) often is considered the gold standard for airway management in cardiac arrest; however, other options exist. Recent prospective randomized trials have compared outcomes in bag-valve mask ventilation and supraglottic airways to ETI in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. ETI, if performed early in resuscitation, is associated with worse patient outcomes and has been de-emphasized so as not to interfere with other aspects of the resuscitation. Hyperventilation has multiple theoretic harms during cardiac arrest, and methods, such as compression-adjusted ventilation, may be utilized to help reduce the incidence of hyperventilation.