ReviewThe western journal of emergency medicine2015
The Physiologically Difficult Airway.
Review in The western journal of emergency medicine, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 2 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 87 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Expert Consensus Statements for the Management of a Physiologically Difficult Airway Using the Delphi Method (PDADelphi)
Comparison of Peri-intubation Oxygenation Values and Complications in Patients Intubated With the Delayed Sequential Intubation (DSI) Versus Rapid Sequence Intubation (RSI) Protocols
Who cites it
87 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Efficacy of video laryngoscopy versus direct laryngoscopy for critically Ill adults undergoing tracheal intubation: a trial sequential analysis and meta-analysis.BMC anesthesiology · 2026Pooled it
- Impact of Interventions on Peri-Intubation Hypoxemia and Hypotension in Critically Ill Patients: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.The western journal of emergency medicine · 2025Pooled it
- Evaluation of preoperative difficult airway prediction methods for adult patients without obvious airway abnormalities: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC anesthesiology · 2024Pooled it
- Bilateral Superior Laryngeal Nerve Block to Attenuate the Pressor Response of Laryngoscopy and Intubation in Adult Patients Undergoing Elective Surgeries Under General Endotracheal Anesthesia: A Randomized Controlled Double-blind Study.Annals of African medicine · 2026Trial
- Efficacy and safety of esketamine for emergency endotracheal intubation in ICU patients: a double-blind, randomized controlled clinical trial.Scientific reports · 2025Trial
- Personalizing Peri-Intubation Oxygenation in Patients at Risk of Acute Hypoxemic Respiratory Failure: A Phenotype-Driven Narrative Review of High-Flow Nasal Oxygen and Non-Invasive Ventilation.Journal of personalized medicine · 2026Review
- Review
- Curriculum for Airway Skills in Critically Ill Adults: Protocol for a Delphi Evaluation (CASCADE).Indian journal of critical care medicine : peer-reviewed, official publication of Indian Society of Critical Care Medicine · 2026Article
- Video bronchoscope-assisted tracheal intubation in pediatric difficult airways: a single-center retrospective case series.World journal of pediatrics : WJP · 2026Article
- Tracheal intubation in the critically ill: beyond the airway, toward hemodynamic precision.Journal of intensive care · 2026Article
- Sex differences in serious outcomes among critically ill adults following endotracheal intubation.World journal of critical care medicine · 2026Article
- Awake Flexible Scope Intubation in Critically Ill Patients With Physiologically Difficult Airways: A Prospective, Observational Case Series.Critical care explorations · 2026Observational
- The hemodynamics of tracheal intubation in critically ill patients: a narrative review.Journal of intensive care · 2026Review
- Preoxygenation When Standard Approaches Fail: Phenotype-Based Strategies for High-Risk Emergent Intubations.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Review
- Review
- Airway Management in the ICU and Emergency Department in Resource-Limited Settings.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Physiological Factors Associated with Peri-intubation Severe Adverse Events and Derivation of an Exploratory Bedside Risk Score; A Cross-sectional Study.Archives of academic emergency medicine · 2026Article
- The Pharmacology of Physiologically Difficult Airway Management and Impact on Hemodynamics: A Review.Indian journal of critical care medicine : peer-reviewed, official publication of Indian Society of Critical Care Medicine · 2026Review
- Observational Study on the Effectiveness of Ventilator-Assisted Preoxygenation (VAPOX) Over Bag Valve Mask (BVM) Ventilation During Rapid Sequence Intubation in Patients with Acute Respiratory Distress.Journal of pharmacy & bioallied sciences · 2025Article
- Peri-intubation Cardiovascular Collapse During Emergency Airway Management.Pulmonary therapy · 2025Review
27 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Airway management in critically ill patients involves the identification and management of the potentially difficult airway in order to avoid untoward complications. This focus on difficult airway management has traditionally referred to identifying anatomic characteristics of the patient that make either visualizing the glottic opening or placement of the tracheal tube through the vocal cords difficult. This paper will describe the physiologically difficult airway, in which physiologic derangements of the patient increase the risk of cardiovascular collapse from airway management. The four physiologically difficult airways described include hypoxemia, hypotension, severe metabolic acidosis, and right ventricular failure. The emergency physician should account for these physiologic derangements with airway management in critically ill patients regardless of the predicted anatomic difficulty of the intubation.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.