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Choking - adult or child over 1 year - Overview

Alternative Names

Heimlich maneuver - adult or child over 1 year

Definition of Choking - adult or child over 1 year:

Choking is when someone can't breathe because food, a toy, or other object is blocking the airway (throat or windpipe).

Considerations:

A choking person's airway may be completely or partially blocked, so that not enough oxygen reaches the lungs. A complete blockage is a medical emergency. A partial blockage can quickly become life threatening if the person cannot properly breathe in and out.

Without oxygen, permanent brain damage can occur in as little as 4 - 6 minutes. Rapid first aid for choking can save a life.

Occasionally an object will enter the lung. While the person may appear to improve and breathe normally, in a few days symptoms may develop, such as:

Persistent cough
Pneumonia
Wheezing

Causes:

Eating too fast, failing to chew food well enough, or eating with improperly fitted dentures
Drinking alcohol (even a small amount of alcohol affects awareness)
Being unconscious and breathing in vomited material
Breathing in small objects (young children)
Trauma to the head and face (swelling, blood, or a deformity can cause choking)

Choking first aid - adult or child over 1 year - series

Reviewed last on: 10/2/2008
Jacob L. Heller, MD, Emergency Medicine, Virginia Mason Medical Center, Seattle, Washington, Clinic. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.

References

Manno M. Pediatric respiatory emergencies: upper airway obstruction and infections. In: Marx J, ed. Rosen's Emergency Medicine: Concepts and Clinical Practice. 6th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Mosby Elsevier; 2006: chap 166.

Thomas SH, Brown DFM. Foreign bodies. In: Marx J, ed. Rosen's Emergency Medicine: Concepts and Clinical Practice. 6th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Mosby Elsevier; 2006: chap 57.

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