Abstract
An adequate airway management is one of the cornerstones of perioperative and intensive care. Tracheal intubation remains the gold standard of airway management in complicated and emergency procedures under general anaesthesia, as well as in primary airway management outside the hospital or in intensive care setting.
Nasotracheal intubation is indicated mainly in maxillofacial procedures. Insertion of supraglottic airway device is considered in elective procedures and in patients with a low risk of gastric content aspiration.
Supraglottic airways play also significant role in the algorithms of difficult intubation. Mortality and serious morbidity associated with airway management are very low in anaesthetic care, however their incidence increases in prehospital and intensive care.
Both intubation and extubation are considered as important situations in the intensive care setting. Surgical "front of neck" methods of airway management involve emergency cricothyrotomy and more elective tracheostomy.
Airway management in children possesses specific challenges due to anatomical and physiological differences when compared with adults. Alternative methods of oxygenation involve THRIVE, passive oxygenation, jet ventilation and extracorporeal oxygenation.