As I read each feature article in this issue devoted to airway management, I was struck with one overriding impression: physician anesthesiologists responsible for managing a patient’s airway and setting the standards for such procedures are at the absolute pinnacle of a complex and demanding craft.
Contained in this NEWSLETTER are anecdotes and stories from physician experts in procedures that relatively few are qualified to perform. Advances in education, technology and research have helped ensure that even the most precarious patients can undergo high-risk surgery in the safest manner possible.
Airway management is one of those skills that, for better or worse, becomes taken for granted when its practitioners become experts at it. The same thing happens every time we drive across a suspension bridge, fly in an airliner or drink tap water. But we sure realize how important such quiet expertise is when it’s gone.
Management of the airway...
