Published in:
Open Access
01-12-2014 | Extended abstract
What is the role of video laryngoscopy in pre-hospital care?
Author:
Wolfgang G Voelckel
Published in:
Scandinavian Journal of Trauma, Resuscitation and Emergency Medicine
|
Special Issue 1/2014
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Excerpt
Direct laryngoscopy is the primary method for performing tracheal intubation in the pre-hospital setting. Failure to quickly establish an airway can result in hypoxemia, aspiration, neurologic damage, cardiovascular complications, and death. In-hospital data derived form 50,760 apparently normal patients undergoing surgery suggest that difficult laryngoscopy occurs in 5.8% [
1]. When intubation is required in a pre-hospital scenario, the incidence of difficult laryngoscopy is doubled even when experienced anaesthesiologists are involved, and expected to reach some 20% when less qualified operators are in charge [
2]. Thus, failed intubation rates in the emergency medical service may be as high as 7% [
3]. …