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Tips for Handling the Bougie Airway Management Device

By Richard M. Levitan, MD, FACEP | on September 14, 2014 | 2 Comments
Airway
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Whatever grip you use when railroading tubes down a bougie, always do so with a left-handed turn of the tube as you pass the laryngeal inlet (approximately 14–16 cm from the mouth). This prevents any hang up on the laryngeal inlet (between the smaller outer diameter of the bougie and the larger inner diameter of the tube).

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Explore This Issue
ACEP Now: Vol 33 – No 09 – September 2014

Make the bougie part of your airway kit. You’ll never know when it may come in handy.


Dr. LevitanDr. Levitan is an adjunct professor of emergency medicine at Dartmouth’s Geisel School of Medicine in Hanover, N.H., and a visiting professor of emergency medicine at the University of Maryland in Baltimore. He works clinically at a critical care access hospital in rural New Hampshire and teaches cadaveric and fiber-optic airway courses.

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Topics: Airway ManagementBougieCritical CareEmergency MedicineEmergency PhysicianPractice TrendsProcedures and Skills

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About the Author

Richard M. Levitan, MD, FACEP

Richard M. Levitan, MD, FACEP, is an adjunct professor of emergency medicine at Dartmouth’s Geisel School of Medicine in Hanover, N.H., and a visiting professor of emergency medicine at the University of Maryland in Baltimore. He works clinically at a critical care access hospital in rural New Hampshire and teaches cadaveric and fiber-optic airway courses.

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2 Responses to “Tips for Handling the Bougie Airway Management Device”

  1. September 25, 2014

    visual aid: bougie handling tips | DAILYEM Reply

    […] in ACEP Now, with some handy tips for gripping the bougie so it feeds with the Coude tip up.  Click through for the article, but if you have 30 seconds, check out the visual aids […]

  2. February 22, 2024

    Girijanandan D Menon Reply

    Used BIliary dilatation catheter used by endoscopist, as a substitute for bougie, to easily intubate a high anterior larynx in four cases.

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