Airway Management

Because of his international prominence, Professor Khan has been able to gather an enviable list of experts in the field to contribute their experience with airway management in a multitude of clinical settings. The critical appraisal of the airway authored by the editor, Professor Khan, sets the stage for the important preoperative tests that may alert the clinician of the potential for a difficult airway so that appropriate plans can be made. The formidable “guest list” of authors spans the world and encompasses clinicians from Malaysia, the United States, Pakistan, India, Denmark, Singapore, Germany, Canada and Iran. What is equally remarkable is the list of topics discussed in the textbook and the varied clinical settings in which airway management is likely to pose particular and unique challenges: pediatrics; patients with cervical spine injury and those with traumatic brain injury; ambulatory surgery; patients with obstructive sleep apnea and obstetric patients. The book also addresses the latest in technological advances that can aid the clinician in diagnosing and managing the difficult airway, such as ultrasonography and also describes surgical approaches to managing the difficult airway, such as cricothyrotomy. Finally, underscoring the truly international appeal of the textbook and acknowledging the potential technological limitations of the developing world, a chapter is dedicated to the use of indigenous devices in managing the difficult airway.

This book integrates chapters on a variety of topics ranging from airway physiology to scenarios of a difficult airway, and reviews and management options in patients who are known to have a difficult airway such as the difficult pediatric airway, the difficult airway in obstetrics, and those suffering from obstructive sleep apnea. All the chapters are written by renowned contributors from all over the world with tremendous experience and expertise in the various fields. The probable overspill of the secretions into the lungs is a tangible fear and this aspect has been fully addressed in the chapters.

The reviews presented herein describe difficult airway scenarios in a plethora of clinical settings that would help the anesthesiologists, emergency medicine specialists and the intensivists in taking steps in the right direction when posed with a challenging airway, thus ensuring safe anesthesia practice and patient care, which is our most cherished goal.