Airway Management Essay

Words: 1844
Pages: 8

Airway management in emergency room (ER) is one of a very important skill to learn and comes only by practice. Its importance lies in the fact that any failed attempt increases the mortality and morbidity. And hence a working knowledge of drugs and techniques used for intubation is important not only for the doctors and nurses working in the operating room but also for doctors and paramedics working in the emergency room and intensive care units. We will here in the present review briefly go over the important drugs which are helpful in successfully intubating a patient. An optimal position of the patient with proper technique and instruments is nevertheless one of the important factors in the process of intubation.
The drugs which are used for the intubation of the patients can be broadly divided into three main groups: intravenous induction drugs, muscle relaxant and adjuvant to decrease stress response associated with the intubation. With respect to the intubation in emergency department adjuvant drugs and not all muscle relaxants are important. Before discussing the drug we will briefly go through few of the important points which should be important to consider and remember in an emergency room.
1. All the patients
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Etomidate – etomidate just like propofol is also a white milky solution have anesthetic and amnestic properties without any muscle relaxant or analgesic action. It can be used in an emergency setting as a part of rapid sequence intubation in patients who are at high cardiac risk. The main advantage which this offers over propofol is its low cardiovascular risk profile and hence is not associated with any significant drop in blood pressure. The standard induction dose is about 0.3 mg/kg body weight. As seen with other induction agents, it causes loss of consciousness in one arm brain circulation time. It’s a highly protein bound drug and is metabolised by hepatic and plasma esterase. Certain precaution which needs to be followed