Digital Palpation of the Cricothyroid Membrane is Unreliable in Obese Laboring Patients

Calvin A. Brown, III, MD, FAAEM   In laboring at-term patients, palpation of the cricothyroid membrane was less accurate in obese than in nonobese patients, whereas ultrasound identified the cricothyroid membrane in all patients.   Obesity is a common marker of airway difficulty and may make a “can't intubate, can't oxygenate” scenario (and the... Read more..

No Clear Benefit of Early NPPV in Immunocmpromised Patients with Hypoxemic Respiratory Failure

Patricia Kritek, MD   Compared with oxygen therapy, noninvasive positive-pressure ventilation did not prevent subsequent intubation or lengthen survival.   In a small trial conducted in the late 1990s, early use of noninvasive positive-pressure ventilation (NPPV) conferred a mortality benefit in immunocompromised patients with hypoxemic respiratory failure (NEJM JW Emerg Med Jun... Read more..

Fiberoptic Tour of the Airway

[cvg-video videoId='77' width='480' height='360' mode='playlist' /] Read more..