Airway management, penetrating neck trauma

This study was performed to determine whether clinical presentation can accurately predict which victims of penetrating neck trauma require urgent airway management. An 8-year retrospective review of all patients with a diagnosis of penetrating neck trauma seen in the emergency department of an urban teaching hospital was conducted. Of the 114 patients reviewed, 69 (60%) were intubated at some point in their hospital course. Twenty-six (23%) met our predetermined criteria for urgent airway control; 25 of these patients were intubated in the emergency department. Forty-three patients (38%) did not meet the criteria and were electively intubated either in the operating room or in the emergency department. Forty-five patients (39%) were never intubated. None of the patients in this series developed complications as a result of their airway management.