It is important to assess the airway of every trauma patient encountered. This may be as simple as asking the patient a question and listening to voice quality as he/she responds. Indications for further airway intervention include apnea, respiratory distress, airway obstruction, and inability to protect the airway. A patient with a depressed level of consciousness due to head injury or shock will be unable to protect the airway and may have airway obstruction due to thetongue falling posteriorly into the oropharynx.
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© 2008 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC
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Nagy, K.O. (2008). Management of the Difficult Airway. In: Myers, J.A., Millikan, K.W., Saclarides, T.J. (eds) Common Surgical Diseases. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-75246-4_9
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