Assistant Professor University of Florida College of Medicine, Jacksonville Jacksonville, Florida
As oral and maxillofacial surgeons, we have a thorough knowledge of the head and neck, and are the surgical airway experts of the hospital. The open tracheostomy is an efficient and safe method to establish a surgical airway, both in an emergent and a controlled setting. In this lecture, we will discuss the merits of the open tracheostomy over the percutaneous tracheostomy, as well as the literature to support it. We will also describe pearls that we find to be helpful in establishing a secure and expeditious surgical airway.
Learning Objectives:
At the conclusion of this presentation, participants should be able to:
Recognize the merits of the open tracheostomy over the percutaneous tracheostomy, with supporting evidence in the literature.
Describe the steps and pearls helpful in establishing an expeditious surgical airway.
Discuss the pitfalls of the emergent airway, and how to avoid them.