Obstruction of the major pediatric airway.

UNLABELLED

1. Do not create an emergency obstruction unless you are prepared to handle it. (It may be best to do nothing until the diagnosis is clear.) 2. Support the patient with oxygen, humidity, and positioning and monitor vital signs. 3. Take as brief, concise, and accurate a history as possible. 4. Determine the anatomic level of obstruction. 5. Estimate the degree of obstruction with the maximal potential hazard. 6. Carry out a physical examination of the nose and neck and, except in suspected epiglottitis, the pharynx, larynx, trachea, and lung. 7. Special x-ray studies--lateral, neck and chest, swallowing function, and inspiratory and expiratory films--are obtained as indicated. 8. Therapeutic support: oxygen, humidity, antibiotics, steroids, and recemic epinephrine. Mechanical support: naso-oral airways, appropriate endotracheal or bronchoscopic tubes.

SURGERY

tracheotomy.