Surgical Airway

Lots of debates in this field!

Want to read a recent (November 2021) review of thinking around the technical aspects of scalpel cricothyroidotomy, as well as teaching and improving the procedure?  Have a look at this editorial and accompanying paper in Trends in Anaesthesia and Critical Care:  
Not so clear cut: Cultivating successful surgical cricothyroidotomy.

 Here are two techniques of surgical/front-of-neck airway access in quick video review:

Needle Cricothyroidotomy

Surgical Cricothyroidotomy (DAS 2015 Technique)

More techniques and tricks to follow!

If you want perspective on the debate between needle and scalpel as first approach to FONA in a CICO situation, here is some good reading on the subject:

What does the clinical evidence show? A good place to start is with The Airway Collaborations’ “Airway App” data, that crowdsourced FONA cases from around the world (and a leading number from South Africa. See the initial data in Anaesthesia here: Dugggan, Lockhart, Cook, O’Sullivan, Dare Baker. The Airway App: Exploring the role of smartphone technology in capturing emeregency front-of-neck airway experiences internationally. Anaesthesia, 2018;73:674-8

Open access meducation for all aspects of airway management