Upper Airway
What are the 4 upper airway structures?
Nose
mouth
pharynx
larynx
What are the four structures of the lower airways?
Trachea
Bronchi
Bronchioles
Alveoli
What nerve provides motor innervation to close the vocal cords?
Superior Laryngeal Nerve
What is the narrowest portion of the adult airway?
vocal cords
You induce anesthesia, and initial intubation is unsuccessful. What would you do next?
call for help and return to spontaneous ventilation
What separates the nasopharynx from the oropharynx?
soft palate
What is the normal anatomic dead space in adults?
2 ml/kg
What vessel supplies the upper airway?
external carotid artery
Why do pediatric patients have higher CO2 production than adults?
higher O2 consumption
Rationale: higher O2 consumption means a higher metabolic rate, which means higher CO2 production.
You started face mask ventilation, but it is not adequate. What would you do next?
Super glottic airway
What muscles in the larynx open and close the vocal cords?
Lateral Crycoarytenoid (adducts)
Posterior Crycoarytenoid (abducts)
What physical law explains the role of type 2 pneumocytes and surface tension?
La Place P= 2T/R
P=pressure
T- tension
R= radius
It is established that pulmonary surfactant reduces surface tension at the air–water interface in the alveoli, thereby preventing collapse of these structures at end-expiration. In this manner, surfactant reduces the work associated with breathing.
What are the three main nerves that provide sensory innervation to the larynx?
RLN
Glossopharyngeal
Call for help and provide emergency non-invasive airway ventilation
What part of the upper airway are you manipulating with a Miller v Mac blade?
Miller lifts the epiglottis
Mac manipulates the Valecula
What side of the RLN most frequency injured?
left
Rationale: secondary to the long path under the aortic arch to the larynx.
awaken patient
or consider feasibility of other options
or try again for invasive airway access