EMCrit 260 – Thoughts on the NEJM Acute Upper Airway Obstruction Review

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NEJM recently published an interesting review article on upper airway obstruction. This podcast was spurred by a rantorial on twitter by Farkas regarding the article:

https://twitter.com/PulmCrit/status/1195103809745440768?s=20

I took a look--and it was indeed bad...

Here is the Article:

Eskander et al. Acute Upper Airway Obstruction

Some Additional References

Here is the review article on which some of the flawed messages of the NEJM piece are based:

* Cricothyrotomy versus Trachetomy: An Otolaryngologist's Perspective. Laryngoscope. 1988 Feb;98(2):131-5.

These two pieces from the ENT and OMFS literature correct these errors:

* Cricothyrotomy: When, Why and Why Not: Am J Otolaryng 2000;21(3):195

* Elective Surgical Cricothyroidotomy in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Br J Oral Max Surg 2013;51:779

Updates:

Best Practices for Emerg Surg Airway (Laryng Invest Otolaryng 2019;4:602)

Now on to the Podcast...