The Physiologically Difficult Airway and Management Considerations

This paper evaluates the recent literature regarding the physiologically difficult airway.

Adverse events mainly desaturation, cardiovascular collapse, and cardiac arrest remain common complications. This risk is greatly increased in patients with altered physiology prior to intubation. Studies published over the last 5 years have explored many aspects surrounding the epidemiology, risks, and approach to managing the physiologically difficult airway.

Important work has been done to identify directly modifiable risks of complications related to the physiologically difficult airway, but a large percentage of patients remain at high risk despite optimizing induction agents, preoxygenation, and first attempt success.