Respiratory airway in brain and cardiopulmonary resuscitation

Abstract

Introduction: Accessing the airway is an element of vital importance in cases of cardiac arrest. Both when the basic principles established for resuscitation were the ABC (English acronym for airway, breathing and circulation), and for those of the current CAB (circulation, airway and breathing). There are controversies between the technique used to ensure ventilation the best way: orotracheal intubation or supraglottic devices? Objective: To carry out an update on the techniques to access the airway in cardiopulmonary and cerebral resuscitation. Method: We visited the website of the National Medical Library of the United States ( PubMed) with the following keywords in English: airway AND reanimation, and with the filter activated for the last five years, in humans and in full text. Conclusions: Tracheal intubation requires regular training and practice to avoid complications. The untrained staff members do not always have enough skills to achieve it and should not waste time doing these procedures, but focus on high-quality chest compressions, the ventilation bag and mask, instead, until the arrival of rescuer experts.

Keywords

• intubación orotraqueal
• ventilación por máscara facial o de la bolsa autoinflable