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Emergency airway puncture - Overview

Alternative Names

Needle cricothyrotomy

Definition of Emergency airway puncture:

Emergency airway puncture is an emergency insertion of a hollow needle into the airway (larynx). It is used to treat life-threatening choking.

Description:

In an emergency situation, when someone is choking and all other efforts to assist with breathing have failed, a hollow needle can be inserted into the throat, just below the Adam's apple (cricoid cartilage). In hospital settings, a small skin incision may be made before inserting the needle or tube.

Why the Procedure Is Performed:

A cricothyrotomy is recommended as an emergency procedure to relieve an airway obstruction until surgical placement of a breathing tube (tracheostomy) can be done.

Emergency airway puncture

Cricoid cartilage

Emergency airway puncture - series

Reviewed last on: 7/25/2007
James L. Demetroulakos, M.D., F.A.C.S., Department of Otolaryngology, North Shore Medical Center, Salem, MA. Clinical Instructor in Otology and Laryngology, Harvard Medical School. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.

References

Marx J. Rosen’s Emergency Medicine: Concepts and Clinical Practice. 6th ed. St. Louis, Mo: Mosby; 2006.

Roberts JR, Hedges JR. Clinical Procedures in Emergency Medicine. 4th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: WB Saunders; 2004.

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