RT Book, Section
A1 Ross, Brian K.
A1 McKeen, Dolores M.
A2 Hung, Orlando
A2 Murphy, Michael F.
SR Print(0)
ID 55872373
T1 Chapter 49. What Is Unique About the Obstetrical Airway?
T2 Management of the Difficult and Failed Airway, 2e
YR 2012
FD 2012
PB The McGraw-Hill Companies
PP New York, NY
SN 978-0-07-162344-5
LK accessanesthesiology.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=55872373
RD 2024/04/20
AB The  ability  to  maintain  a  patent  airway,  provide  adequate  ventilation,  and  place  an  endotracheal  tube  remains  a  major  concern  for  airway  practitioners.  There  is  no  location  that  produces  more  anxiety  in  this  regard  than  labor  and  delivery.  Obstetrical  anesthesia  is  a  high-risk  practice  that  is  replete  with  medicolegal  liability  and  laden  with  clinical  challenges.  On  the  obstetric  service,  the  practitioner  is  required  to  provide  safe  anesthesia  care  to  two  patients,  mother  and  baby,  both  of  whom  have  unique  and  demanding  anatomical  and  physiological  requirements.  The  purpose  of  this  chapter  is  to  briefly  review  the  status  of  maternal  morbidity/mortality,  highlight  the  principal  reasons  that  airways  of  parturients  might  be  difficult  to  manage,  and  propose  an  algorithm  for  the  management  of  the  obstetrical  airway.