Anatomy of the Airway/Airway Management

This chapter reviews upper airway anatomyAirway anatomy and airway managementAirway management. One of the most challenging aspects in clinical anesthesiaAnesthesia is the consistent identification of patients in whom airways are likely to be challenging to secure for failure to do so can result in a wide spectrum of complications including injury to the upper or lower airway, larynx or at worst, hypoxia, hypercapnia, neurological injury that can potentially lead to neurological injury or even death. The act of securing the airway involves multiple steps, viz.: initial airway assessmentAirway assessment, patient positioning for optimization of visualization of the upper airway and vocal cords, face mask ventilation, placement of an upper airway device or an advanced airway to secure the airway and finally extubation or removal of the airway device safely. A failure to accomplish any one of these steps would constitute a “difficult airwayDifficult airway” scenario.