22.7a Extraglottic Airway Devices

Extraglottic airway (EGA)

(?) devices are inserted blindly into the airway to facilitate oxygenation and ventilation via a self-inflating bag or transport ventilator but do not enter the glottis (the space between the vocal cords).

extraglottic

Hence the term (?) , meaning “outside the glottis.”

laryngoscope

Because EGAs do not enter the glottis, they do not require the use of a (?) to visualize the glottic opening, although some of them permit it.

blind

Their insertion without laryngoscopy is described as “(?) .”

sit

There are subcategories of EGAs, depending on where they actually “(?).”

retroglottic airways

Some sit in the esophagus, which places them behind the vocal cords (?)

supraglottic airways

Others sit above the vocal cords (?).

primary or secondary device

An EGA can be used as a (?) depending on the practitioner’s scope of practice, clinical guidelines, and the clinical scenario.

Primary use

(?) means immediately using the EGA without first trying to achieve endotracheal intubation

secondary use

Secondary use means using the EGA only after an attempt at endotracheal intubation has failed.

faster and easier

Accumulating evidence and experience suggest that EGAs are (?) to insert than endotracheal tubes and can be associated with fewer complications.

at least as good

Recent evidence suggests that outcomes in cardiac arrest are (?) , if not better, with extraglottic airways than with endotracheal intubation, particularly in EMS systems with low intubation success rates.

difficult intubation

Many EMS systems are employing extraglottic airways early in the event of (?) or are moving entirely to EGAs.