Our primary goal is to ensure that oxygen reaches our patient’s lungs. However, for air to transition from the outside environment to the inside, there must be a clear pathway. When a patient is unconscious, their tongue may fall back and obstruct this pathway. To reopen it, we must understand how to manipulate the head and jaw to lift the tongue away from the back of the oropharynx.

For many, the go-to is the head tilt chin lift maneuver. This is the traditional way to open the airway, but it has a few drawbacks: it doesn’t lift the tongue off the posterior oropharynx, and extending the neck is a risk if you suspect a spinal injury. We can get around this by employing the jaw thrust, which clears the tongue with less neck movement. If you are ever uncertain of whether your patient has a spinal injury, the jaw thrust is your safest bet.

-Brendan Tarantino

Now that you understand this term, check out the link below to see it in the clinical context of one of our PAC learning spaces and gain a better understanding of its meaning.

Reference

Emergency Airway Management Part 1: Optimizing the basics, First10EM