Actualización en el manejo del laringoespasmo
Update on the management of laryngospasm.
Hernández-Cortez E.
J Anesth Crit Care Open Access. 2018;8(2):1-6. DOI: 10.15406/jaccoa.2018.08.00327
Introduction
Laryngospasm is defined as the sustained closure of the vocal cords. It is a primitive protective airway reflex, which happens to safeguard the integrity of the airway by protecting it from tracheobronchial aspiration.1 Laryngospasm is also defined as an exaggerated response of the closure reflex or glottic muscle spasm. Essentially is a protective reflex, which acts to prevent the entry of any foreign material into the tracheobronchial tree. The presence of this reflex results in an impediment to adequate breathing, under these conditions it becomes a sudden obstruction of upper airway. A feature of laryngospasm is that the airway closure is maintained even after the initial causal stimulus disappears. In any of the situations mentioned above, we face a partial or total loss of the airway, and therefore an anesthetic urgency. Forty % of the airway obstructions are secondary to laryngospasm, and this may result in a life-threatening complication, and is a major cause of cardiac arrest in the pediatric patient.
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