Ultrasound is Superior to Conventional Palpation Method in Identification of the Cricothyroid Membrane in Subjects With Poorly Defined Neck Landmarks: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Detailed Summary

Routine surgery requires artificial breathing through the placement of a plastic tube into the patient's windpipe via mouth or nose. This tube serves as the source of providing oxygen to the patients during surgery. Difficulties during insertion of this tube may lead to serious complications and during this life-threatening crisis the only way to provide oxygen to the patient is by the help of a procedure called cricothyrotomy (CTY). CTY is a life saving procedure that involves an incision on the patient neck at a very precise location called Cricothyroid Membrane (CTM). The current method of identifying this location is by palpation of neck cartilages by the operator. The incorrect identification of the CTM could lead to many complications. In certain patients such as obese or distorted neck features the identification of CTM would be difficult. Ultrasound (US) has improved the success rate of many anesthesia procedures .Its use has been described for identification of neck structures; however, this technique of localization has not been validated against the gold standard which is the use of CT scan. The purpose of our study is to determine the precision of identifying the CTM using the US versus the conventional finger palpation when compared to the gold standard.

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