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Interesting intubation solution...


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Just intubated a 300 lb pt (mallampati 4) with pneumonia in resp failure who failed bipap. yes, used a glidescope.

anyway, tube in good position,  end tidal c02 good, sats fine, chest film confirms placement.  pt requiring high pressures to ventilate despite vecuronium and frequent suctioning. added 100 mg of ketamine with great effect. RT was able to turn down peep and 02 concentration and maintain sats. I love this drug.  

this may be the most challenging intubation I have ever done without anesthesia in the room. intubated a big guy with huge teeth, no neck or chin recently in the OR, but that was not a high-stress crashing pt situation like this.

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Awesome job! Sounded like a tough one for sure. Maybe that's why they call it "special K" :-) I sure don't miss dropping tubes pre-hospital in living rooms full of trash. My old partner I used to work with told me that everyone in the county has switched to ketamine from ativan. I used ketamine for conscious sedation to put in a heimlich chest tube for a pneumo during my ER rotation and it worked wonders.. I admit it was a little disturbing when I got the "ketamine stare" my preceptor warned me about..

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • Moderator

Sweet! Just an FYI though....chest x-rays don't confirm placement of ET tubes

SURE, seeing it go through the cords, no epigastric sounds, b/l breath sounds,end tidal c02, etc does, but "ideal" placement is generally based on where the radiologist says your tube is ; "it needs to come up 0.5 cm", etc).

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