Tuesday November 14, 2006


Q: After how many attempts to intubate you should stop and call for help?

A: 3

ASA (American Society of Anesthesiologists)Task Force on the Management of the Difficult Airway recommends to limit laryngoscopic attempts to 3 in lieu of the considerable injury that may occur including hypoxemia, regurgitation and aspiration of gastric contents, bradycardia and cardiac arrest.

Historical Trivia: Orotracheal intubation in difficulty of breathing was first suggested about 1000 years ago by a persian doctor Avicenna (also called Ibne-Sina) 1. First oral intubation in modern medicine was performed by British surgeon McEwen in 1878 when he preoperatively intubated a patient to prevent the aspiration of blood during extirpation of a tumour from the base of the tongue.


Reference:
1. History of intubation - Laryngol Rhinol Otol (Stuttg).1986 Sep;65(9):506-10