Part 1/2

Overview

This is a 2-hour hands-on airway ultrasound workshop which aims to provide cutting-edge information on using ultrasound to assess and identify airway anatomy and structures, as
well as how to utilize the latest technology to facilitate easy-to-perform blocks of the airway. The workshop includes a half hour didactic lecture and video demonstration followed by ample opportunity to gain hands-on experience using both living and in vitro models.

Objectives

At the end of this airway workshop, participants should be able to:

1. Perform a basic airway ultrasound assessment.
2. Identify key anatomical structures of the airway, including cricothyroid membrane, vocal cords, vessels, midline, thyroid isthmus, and tracheal features for percutaneous tracheostomy.
3. Understand the benefits and limitations of using ultrasound for airway assessment.
4. Know how to use ultrasound to aid in predicting a difficult airway, including identification of pre-tracheal soft tissue and visualization of the hyoid bone.
5. Detect bilateral lung ventilation, including potential pitfalls/problems.
6. Confidently perform nerve blocks of the airway using landmark-, nerve stimulator-, and ultrasound-guided techniques. Also discussed will be topicalization for difficult airway and cricothyroid puncture for transtracheal injection.