Author(s)

Iván Mauricio Alvarado Arteaga

Department of Anesthesiology, Hospital de San Jose, Bogotá, Colombia.

Difficult airway situations are a major cause of morbidity, mortality and malpractice claims in anesthetic practice and other critical care settings. Although infrequent, they are serious and complex situations where many variables interact. Among these variables, quick and accurate rescuer decision-making is a major outcome determinant. Emerging evidence, recent advances in technology and development of new devices have provided new tools to deal with the problem, but still, basic underlying principles of management remain. Based on the available evidence and expert consensus, multiple guidelines and algorithms have been published, but they may have limited applicability, contain confusing and ambiguous recommendations or address very specific clinical situations. This narrative review attempts to summarize, organize and consolidate current trends and supported recommendations of the updated guidelines in one practical, concise and unified guide, proposing a simple, intuitive and novel algorithm.

Anesthesia, Airway Management, Airway Obstruction, Intubation-Intratracheal, Pulmonary Ventilation, Guideline, Algorithms

Alvarado Arteaga, I. (2017) The Difficult Airway: A New Simplified Approach to an Old Complex Problem. Open Journal of Anesthesiology, 7, 210-233. doi: 10.4236/ojanes.2017.78023.