Anaes Vivas · Airway management

Data viva — Cormack-Lehane grade, BURP and the capnography confirmation

A data viva on the three examined artefacts of direct laryngoscopy taken together — the four Cormack-Lehane grades (the view obtained, and the grade that defines the difficult intubation), the BURP vector (backward, upward, rightward pressure on the thyroid cartilage to improve the view, distinct from cricoid pressure), and the sustained square-wave capnography trace (the definitive confirmation of tracheal placement). Covers the grade definitions, the manoeuvres that improve a poor grade, and the fatal consequence of an unrecognised oesophageal intubation.