page_title: Airway management
section_title: Basic airway management
hierarchical_section_title: Airway management / Basic airway management
caption_attribution_description: English: Abdominal Thrust / Heimlich ManoeuvrePolski: Zakrztusznie, zadławienie - rękoczyn Heimlicha
context_page_description: Airway management includes a set of maneuvers and medical procedures performed to prevent and relieve airway obstruction. This ensures an open pathway for gas exchange between a patient's lungs and the atmosphere. This is accomplished by either clearing a previously obstructed airway; or by preventing airway obstruction in cases such as anaphylaxis, the obtunded patient, or medical sedation. Airway obstruction can be caused by the tongue, foreign objects, the tissues of the airway itself, and bodily fluids such as blood and gastric contents.
  Airway management is commonly divided into two categories: basic and advanced.
  Basic techniques are generally non-invasive and do not require specialized medical equipment or advanced training. These include head and neck maneuvers to optimize ventilation, abdominal thrusts, and back blows.
  Advanced techniques require specialized medical training and equipment, and are further categorized anatomically into supraglottic devices, infraglottic techniques, and surgical methods.
context_section_description: Basic airway management involves maneuvers that do not require specialized medical equipment (in contrast to advanced airway management). It is mainly used in first aid since it is non-invasive, quick, and relatively simple to perform. The simplest way to determine if the airway is obstructed is by assessing whether the patient is able to speak. Basic airway management can be divided into treatment and prevention of an obstruction in the airway.
caption: Back slaps and abdominal thrusts are performed to relieve airway obstruction by foreign objects
exif: {"Image Make": "", "Image Model": "", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Machinery HDR Effects 2", "Image ExifOffset": "278", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": ""}