← All decks
The first 25 slides, exactly as they appear. The full deck has 56 content slides.
Neuro Critical Care
11 Intubation
Built from Jallo — Neurocritical Care Procedure Atlas
What’s inside
11 sections · 56 slides
Overview
- What this deck will teach you
Why the Airway Comes First
Securing air is the foundation of all resuscitation
- Airway control is the first job in a crisis
- The tube is the goal, but ventilation is the real skill
The Anatomy You Travel Through
From the lips to the branching bronchi
- Two routes in, and the landmarks along the way
- Midsagittal anatomy of the oral cavity and pharynx
- Where the larynx ends and the airway branches
- The laryngoscopic view of the vocal cords
When Intubation Is Needed
Three families of indication: airway, lung, and tissue
- The three categories at a glance
- Indication 1 - Airway: protecting the passage
- Indication 2 - Lung: respiratory failure
- The GBS "20-30-40 rule" for elective intubation
- Indication 3 - Tissue: protecting the injured brain
The Difficult Airway
There are almost no contraindications - so the real task is spotting trouble early
- Contraindications: essentially none
- Physical signs that predict a difficult airway
- Mallampati score: how much of the pharynx is visible
- Measuring the thyromental distance
Preparation: The SOAP ME Check
Proper preparation is of utmost importance for a safe intubation
- SOAP ME equipment check: S, O, A
- SOAP ME - the "A" for Airway, in detail
- SOAP ME - the "P M E" for drugs and monitoring
- Intubation pharmacology: three drug roles
The Technique, Step by Step
Evaluate, pre-oxygenate, medicate, then place the tube
- The first three moves before any blade goes in
- Position the head into "sniffing position"
- The sniffing position for airway alignment
- Method A - direct laryngoscopy
- Sweeping the tongue with a direct laryngoscope
- Method B - video laryngoscopy (Glidescope)
- Confirming the tube is in the right place
- Complications to anticipate
The Difficult Airway Algorithm
A pre-planned escalation when the first attempt fails
- Three escalating levels of rescue
- Difficult airway: escalation logic
- Unanticipated difficult airway algorithm
- The supraglottic rescue: the LMA
- Laryngeal mask airway insertion technique
Expert Tips and Troubleshooting
Hard-won judgment beyond the basic steps
- Rapid sequence intubation (RSI) and cricoid pressure
- If the patient vomits, and other cautions
Special Neuro Circumstances
How to adapt intubation for specific injuries and patients
- Maxillofacial injury: the Le Fort fractures
- Managing the facial-trauma airway
- Cervical spine trauma: minimize neck movement
- Techniques that spare the cervical spine
- Four more high-stakes neuro scenarios
- The morbidly obese and other high-risk inductions
Bringing It Together
The essentials to carry away
- Key takeaways
- Rapid review: why is ventilation emphasized over the tube itself?
- References
- Neuro ICU Procedure Atlas