Airway Flashcards
(46 cards)
Cormack and Lehane Score
Laryngoscopic view of the glottis

Grade I: most of the glottis visible
Grade II: Only the posterior portion of glottis visible
Grade III: Only epiglottis visible
Grade IV: No airway structures visualized
carina
where trachea bifurcates.
Left and right sides come off at different angles.
right bronchi is 2.5 cm long with 25 degree angle
left bronchi is 5cm long with a 45 degree angle
Thyroarytenoid
shortens and relaxes the vocal cords
Pharynx
- nasopharynx
- border is soft palate
- oropharynx
- border is the epiglottis
- includes tonsils, uvula
Glossopharyngeal (CN IX)
Vagus (CN X)

Oral airways
measure from the corner of the mouth to the earlobe
- use tongue depressor to insert
- Complications:
- laryngospasm
- bleeding
- soft tissue damage
- 2 types: Berman (BOA) and Guedel (hollow)
- small- BOA 80mm / Guedel 3
- medium- BOA 90mm / Guedel 4
- large - BOA 100mm / Guedel 5
MAC case
Monitored Anesthesia Care
- Spontaneously breathing patient
- Always have COMPLETE airway setup ready to go
- Nasal Cannula (everybody gets O2)
- 2L NC = 28% FiO2
- 6L NC = 45% FiO2
- Nasal airway if snoring
Nasal airways
measure from distance of nare to meatus of ear
- Tolerated better than oral airway with light sedation
- lubricate
- complications:
- epistaxis (nose bleed), nasal or basal scull fractures, adenoid hypertrophy
lower airway
trachea
carina
bronchi
bronchioles
terminal bronchioles
respiratory bronchioles
alveoli
Glossopharyngeal Nerve (CN IX)
- Posterior 1/3 of tongue
- soft palate
- oropharynx
Airway set up
- appropriately sized face mask
- ambu bag, circuit (for pos pres)
- suction
- tongue depressor
- oral and nasal airways
- laryngoscope handle
- 2 different blades
- ETT, 2 sizes
- stylet
- syringe
- LMA
- tape
Larynx
Located at C4-C6 in an adult
Functions: airway protection, respiration, phonation

Macintosh blade
- Inserted in vallecula above epiglottis
Optimal intubating position
“sniffing”
Oral, pharyngeal, and laryngeal axis
Most optimal for visualization of vocal cords and most effective mask ventilation

Mallampati score
Pt sitting upright, head neutral mouth open as wide as possible and tongue maximally protruded. No AAAH!
- Correlates the oropharyngeal space with the ease of direct laryngoscopy and tracheal intubation.
- When the base of the tongue is disproportionately large, the tonge overshadows the larynx resulting in difficult exposure of the vocal cords during laryngoscopy.
No AAAH!

Pre- Oxygenation
- Goal to increas O2 concentration in functional residual capacity (FRC) by “washing out” nitrogen in the FRC with O2
- 3-5 minutes of tight mask with normal breathing and 100% FiO2
- = 10 minutes of safe apnea time
- 4 vital capacity breaths within 30 seconds with 100% FiO2
- =5 minutes safe apnea time.
- 3-5 minutes of tight mask with normal breathing and 100% FiO2
glottic opening
triangular fissure between the cords
*Narrowest portion of the adult airway


Miller blade
- Inserted below epiglottis
ETT
*always have two sizes available
- Female: 6.5-7.0 mm (depth ≈ 21 cm)
- Male: 7.5-8.0 mm (depth ≈23 cm)
- Ideal position: 4 cm above carina and 2 cm below vocal cords
- All ETT have 15mm outer diameter universal connector
Trachea
Fibromuscular
10-20 cm length, 22 mm diameter
no cartilage on posterior side
bifurcates at T-4 (carina)
Lateral Cricoarytenoid
Closes the glottis

just remember where all that shit is
3 paired cartilages of Larynx
Arytenoid
Corniculate
Cuneiform

arytenoids
closes the glottis, especially posterior
Intrinsic Laryngeal muscles
- Control the movements of the laryngeal cartilages
- length and tension of cords and size of glottic opening
- Cricothyroid muscle innervated by the external branch of the superior laryngeal nerve, a branch of the Vagas nerve (CN X)
- All others innervated by the recurrent laryngeal nerve, a branch of the Vagus nerve (CN X)
- posterior cricoarytenoid
- lateral cricoarytenoid
- arytenoids
- cricothyroid
- thyroarytenoid



