The initial approach to airway management and intervention focuses on the assessment of three basic considerations: failure to oxygenate, failure to ventilate, and failure to maintain airway patency. Airway obstruction is immediately life-threatening and may result from many different causes. Prompt recognition and intervention are necessary to relieve the obstruction and restore oxygenation and ventilation. The differential diagnosis for airway emergency can be divided into several classes to aid in identifying the etiology of respiratory distress or airway compromise: obtundation/apnea, upper airway compromise, and lower airway compromise. A simple airway positioning maneuver is often sufficient to establish airway patency in an unconscious athlete. The two most common methods for opening the airway are the head-tilt/chin-lift and jaw-thrust maneuvers. Various airway adjuncts can be used if airway repositioning fails including an oropharyngeal airway, nasopharyngeal airway, and supraglottic devices. If these fail, intubation or a surgical airway may be necessary.
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