A well-known technique called retrograde intubation (RI) uses a number of translaryngeal guided nonsurgical airway access approaches to help in endotracheal or nasotracheal intubation. It can be used effectively in patients who have an expected or unexpectedly difficult airway and are awake, sedated, obtunded, or apneic. The first instance of RI was reported in 1960 by Butler and Cirillo. A patient already had a tracheostomy, which was cephalad passed through it with a red rubber catheter. The endotracheal tube (ETT), which was subsequently inserted into the patient’s trachea, was linked to the catheter after it left the patient’s mouth. It is incorrect to refer to the procedure as a retrograde intubation; the correct phrase is a translaryngeal-guided intubation.
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Why would you intubate someone retrogradely?
Patients with limited mouth opening (LMO) frequently have trouble getting intubated. When blind nasal intubation fails and a fiberoptic bronchoscope is unavailable, retrograde intubation can be used as an alternative approach to provide a secure airway in these patients. In patients with LMO less than 2 cm, we experimented with retrograde intubation through the nasal passage.
What are the two distinct intubation methods?
Intubation comes in many different types. There are several different intubation techniques that can be used:
- Endotracheal intubation is a general term that refers to inserting a tube into the trachea from the oropharynx. Two more categories, such as Nasotracheal intubation and Orotracheal intubation, can be created from this.
- The tube is inserted into the trachea through the mouth cavity during an orotracheal intubation.
- Nasotracheal intubation: This method of intubation involves inserting the tube into the trachea through the nasal cavity.
- Using an orogastric tube
- using a nasogastric tube
- Using a fiberoptic intubator
- Cricothyroidotomy
What makes orotracheal intubation different from endotracheal intubation?
Tracheal intubation, more often known as intubation, is the insertion of a flexible plastic tube into the trachea (windpipe) in order to maintain an open airway or to act as a route for the delivery of specific medications. In critically injured, unwell, or sedated patients, it is commonly carried out to facilitate lung ventilation, including mechanical ventilation, and to ward off asphyxiation or airway obstruction.
The most popular approach is orotracheal, which involves inserting an endotracheal tube via the mouth and vocal cords and into the trachea. An endotracheal tube is inserted into the trachea during a nasotracheal procedure through the nose and vocal cords. The cricothyrotomy, which is nearly always used in emergency settings, and the tracheotomy, which is typically performed in conditions when a prolonged requirement for airway support is anticipated, are other intubation techniques that include surgery.
Intubation is typically carried out following the administration of general anesthesia and a neuromuscular-blocking medication due to the fact that it is an intrusive and uncomfortable medical operation. But it is possible to execute it on an awake patient while under local or topical anaesthetic, or even without any anesthesia at all in an emergency. In order to assist intubation, the vocal cords are typically identified using a standard laryngoscope, flexible fiberoptic bronchoscope, or video laryngoscope, and the tube is then passed between them into the trachea rather than the esophagus. Alternative tools and methods could be employed.
A balloon cuff is normally inflated slightly above the far end of the tube after the trachea has been intubated. This helps to hold the tube in place, minimize respiratory gas leaks, and shield the tracheobronchial tree from foreign objects like stomach acid. The tube is then fastened to the face or neck and attached to a mechanical ventilator, a T-piece, a bag valve mask device, or an anesthetic breathing circuit. The tracheal tube is withdrawn when there is no longer a need for ventilatory support or airway protection; this procedure is known as extubation of the trachea (or decannulation, in the case of a surgical airway such as a cricothyrotomy or a tracheotomy).
For many years, tracheotomy was thought to be the sole effective technique for tracheal intubation. However, because only a small percentage of patients recovered from the procedure, doctors only used tracheotomies as a last resort on patients who were on the verge of death. But it wasn’t until the late 19th century when improvements in anatomy and physiology knowledge, as well as a grasp of the germ theory of disease, had made this operation’s results better to the point where it could be regarded as a viable therapy option. Also at that time, direct laryngoscopy has become a practical method for securing the airway via the non-surgical orotracheal route because to improvements in endoscopic instrumentation. The tracheotomy, endoscopy, and non-surgical tracheal intubation had developed by the middle of the 20th century from uncommon operations to crucial elements of the professions of anesthesiology, critical care medicine, emergency medicine, and laryngology.
Complications from tracheal intubation can include tooth fractures or tears in the tissues lining the upper airway. Additionally, it may be linked to potentially deadly side effects include pulmonary aspiration of stomach contents, which can cause a serious and occasionally fatal chemical aspiration pneumonitis, or undetected esophageal intubation, which may result in possibly fatal anoxia. As a result, before beginning tracheal intubation, the possibility for difficulty or complications caused by the existence of atypical airway anatomy or other uncontrollable variables is carefully assessed. There should always be backup airway security techniques on hand.
Describe the Combitube airway.
Blind insertion airway equipment includes the Combitube and esophageal tracheal airway (as is the laryngeal mask). Being able to place it without the need for extra equipment or laryngoscopy skills makes it a popular piece of equipment in pre-hospital and emergency medicine settings.
What does the BURP maneuver accomplish?
In conclusion, the BURP maneuver enhanced larynx visualization more effectively than basic laryngeal pressure. The BURP maneuver ought to be one of the standard techniques anesthesiologists employ to enhance laryngeal visibility.
What are the three different kinds of intubation tubes?
The majority of endotracheal tubes used today are made of polyvinyl chloride, however there are also several speciality tubes made of silicone rubber, latex rubber, or stainless steel. The majority of tubes feature an inflated cuff to prevent air leakage and the aspiration of fluids including blood, mucus, and other bodily fluids as well as to seal the trachea and bronchial tree. There are also uncuffed tubes, although they are primarily used by pediatric patients (in small children, the cricoid cartilage, the narrowest portion of the pediatric airway, often provides an adequate seal for mechanical ventilation).
Oral or nasal, cuffed or uncuffed, prefabricated (like the RAE (Ring, Adair, and Elwyn) tube), reinforced tubes, and double-lumen endobronchial tubes are some of the several types of endotracheal tubes. Tubes for human usage have an interior diameter that ranges from 2 to 10.5 mm (ID). Smaller sizes are utilized for pediatric and newborn patients, with the size selection based on the patient’s body size. Typically, tubes with an ID bigger than 6 mm include an inflated cuff. Most contemporary tubes are constructed of polyvinyl chloride, while they were originally made of red rubber. People exposed to laser light might be flexometallic. For thoracic surgery, Robertshaw (and others) created double-lumen endobronchial tubes. These enable one-lung ventilation while the opposing lung is compressed to facilitate surgery. As surgery closes, the deflated lung is reinflated to look for fistulas (tears). Another kind of endotracheal tube features a tiny second lumen opening above the inflatable cuff that can be utilized for extubation assistance and suction of the nasopharynx (removal). This enables suctioning of secretions that are above the cuff, lowering the risk of chest infections in patients who are long-term intubated.
The “armored” endotracheal tubes are silicone rubber tubes with wire reinforcement that are cuffed and quite flexible but difficult to compress or kink. They can be helpful in circumstances when it is anticipated that the trachea will be intubated for a lengthy time or when the neck will be kept flexed during surgery because of this. Comparatively speaking, polyvinyl chloride tubes are fairly rigid. For specific applications, preformed tubes (like the oral and nasal RAE tubes, named after the inventors Ring, Adair, and Elwyn) are also widely available. These could alternatively be made of silicone rubber with wire reinforcement or polyvinyl chloride. Other tubes, like the Bivona Fome-Cuf tube, are made especially for use in laser surgery near the airway. This is helpful for pulmonary and other thoracic procedures. Various types of double-lumen endotracheal (technically, endobronchial) tubes have been created (Carlens, White, Robertshaw, etc.) for breathing each lung separately.
Is a ventilator the same as an intubation?
A person may need intubation and the use of a ventilator if they are unable to breathe on their own or keep an airway open. A breathing tube is inserted into the airway through the mouth during intubation. A medical equipment that delivers oxygen through the breathing tube is a ventilator, commonly referred to as a respirator or breathing machine.
When a patient is critically ill or injured and unable to breathe on their own, a ventilator may be utilized to help with breathing during anesthesia or sedation for a surgery. The ventilator is coupled with the breathing tube. To give a breath, the ventilator forces air into the lungs before allowing it to escape, precisely as the lungs would if they had the capacity to.
How many different ventilator mode kinds exist?
There are five standard modes: pressure support ventilation, volume synchronized intermittent mandatory ventilation (SIMV), volume assist/control, and pressure SIMV.
The right mainstem intubation is what?
Making the correct diagnosis depends on being able to identify the ETT tip and recognize any further symptoms of endobronchial intubation.
ETT tip placement should ideally be 2 cm above the carina and below the interclavicular line. This enables tube tip movement when the neck is moved 2: the tube tip will move downwards when the chin is lowered and upwards when the chin is raised.
The azygos arch and the aortic arch can be used to determine the location of the carina in cases when it cannot be seen.
Compared to the left, the right major bronchus is oriented more vertically. As a result, the right main bronchus is intubated more frequently during endobronchial intubation.
It is possible to obstruct the right upper lobe bronchus if the tube is placed deeply into the right main bronchus. As a result, the left lung and right upper lobe collapse. (In some instances, a properly positioned tube may obstruct an abnormal right upper lobe bronchus.)
On a chest radiograph, secondary symptoms of endobronchial intubation include collapsed or blocked segments.
As one sequentially insonates above the suprasternal notch and at both anterior lung fields during the intubation of the right mainstem bronchus, the following observations are likely to be observed: 6;
- notch above the sternum
- as the ETT cuff is expanded, may show tracheal mucosal-air interface dilatation with posterior reverberation artifacts.
- “Double trachea sign” absence
- doesn’t involve esophageal intubation
- anterior right lung field
- existing lung slipping
- left anterior lobe of the lung
- a lung pulse while there is no lung sliding
- The transmitted cardiac impulses are represented by the pleural interface’s regular oscillations.
- suggests contact between the parietal and visceral pleura, ruling out pneumothorax.
Prior to the confirmatory scan, the endotracheal tube should be removed until bilateral lung sliding is restored 7.

