Abstract
Esophageal intubations are not an uncommon occurrence in prehospital settings, occurring as high as 17%. These “never events” are associated with significant morbidity and mortality especially when unrecognized or when there is delayed recognition. Here, we review the currently available techniques for confirming endotracheal tube intubation and their limitations, and present the case for the application of portable handheld point-of-care ultrasound as an emerging technology for detection of potentially unrecognized esophageal intubations such as during cardiac arrest. We also provide algorithms for confirmation of tracheal intubation.
- airway management
- emergency airway management
- point-of-care ultrasound
- POCUS
- portable point-of-care ultrasound
- PPOCUS
- esophageal intubation
- tracheal intubation
- lung ultrasound
- ultrasonography
- ultrasound
- prehospital care
Footnotes
- Correspondence: Marvin G Chang MD PhD, Harvard Medical School, Division of Cardiac Anesthesia and Critical Care, Department of Anesthesia, Critical Care and Pain Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, 55 Fruit Street GRB 444, Boston, Massachusetts, 02114. E-mail: mgchang{at}mgh.harvard.edu
The authors have disclosed no conflicts of interest.
Supplementary material related to this paper is available at http://rc.rcjournal.com.
- Copyright © 2022 by Daedalus Enterprises
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