Airway Management in patients suffering from COVID-19
11 March 2020SIAARTI COVID19 Airway management protocol
This is the proposed algorithm for airway management in COVID19 patients as from Società Italiana di Anestesia Analgesia e Rianimazione e Terapia Intensiva (SIAARTI), developed by the Italian scientific society on the base of data and experience from the ongoing COVID19 outbreak.
With 10149 infected patients, 631 deaths and 877 patients in ICU (data for march 9, 2020), Italy is now the second country in the world after China for casualties and number of cases.
The Italian anesthesiologists are experiencing dramatic situations, facing critical care beds oversaturation, PPE shortage, and tremendous psychological pressure.
This document focuses on technical and non-technical issues for airway management, underlining the importance of preplanned strategy, of teamwork, of clear communication before any procedure, addressing the importance of undertaking decision to intubate on many clinical, physiopathological, logistic and prognostic factors. An important message is a strong suggestion to anticipate airway management and perform it as elective if deemed necessary, rather than waiting for emergency scenarios with deteriorating patients.
A precious contribution from the field, which might be of help for any critical care physician involved in the COVID outbreak.
This document is also available for free online HERE.
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