Airway Management Techniques in Anesthesia

Airway management in anesthesia encompasses a spectrum of techniques to ensure oxygenation and ventilation during peri-operative care. Basic measures include mask ventilation and the use of oropharyngeal airways to maintain patency in routine cases. Endotracheal intubation remains the gold-standard for secure airway control, while supraglottic airway devices offer a less invasive alternative for elective procedures and as rescue tools in the event of difficult intubation. Advances in videolaryngoscopy have improved first-pass success rates by providing indirect glottic visualisation, reducing the incidence of trauma and hypoxaemia. Fibreoptic bronchoscopes allow awake or sedated intubation in patients with anticipated airway difficulty, and more recently point-of-care ultrasonography has emerged as a non-invasive method to assess airway anatomy, predict intubation challenges and confirm device placement. Emergency front‐of‐neck access via cricothyrotomy remains the final rescue technique when non-invasive measures fail. Contemporary practice emphasises the use of pre-intubation checklists, standardised algorithms and team-based simulation training to improve outcomes. Emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and three-dimensional imaging are under evaluation for their potential to personalise airway assessment and guide device selection. Across diverse healthcare settings, these developments aim to reduce peri-operative morbidity by optimising first-attempt success, minimising aspiration risk and ensuring rapid intervention in unanticipated difficulties.

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Airway Management Techniques in Anesthesia publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in airway management techniques in anesthesia across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Endotracheal intubation: Insertion of a tube through the vocal cords into the trachea to secure the airway and enable mechanical ventilation.

Supraglottic airway device (SGA): An airway adjunct positioned above the glottis to maintain patency without entering the trachea.

Videolaryngoscope: A laryngoscope equipped with a camera and monitor to improve glottic visualisation during intubation.

Ultrasonography: Use of ultrasound imaging to assess airway structures, predict difficulty and confirm device placement.

Cricothyrotomy: Emergency surgical airway access via puncture or incision of the cricothyroid membrane when non-invasive techniques fail.

References

1. Ultrasonography for clinical decision-making and intervention in airway management: from the mouth to the lungs and pleurae. Insights into Imaging (2014).
2. Emergency cricothyrotomy – a systematic review. Scandinavian Journal of Trauma, Resuscitation and Emergency Medicine (2013).
3. Creation of an artificial intelligence model for intubation difficulty classification by deep learning (convolutional neural network) using face images: an observational study. Journal of Intensive Care (2021).
4. Useful Ultrasonographic Parameters to Predict Difficult Laryngoscopy and Difficult Tracheal Intubation—A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Frontiers in Medicine (2021).