Abstract
Foreign body airway obstruction (FBAO), or commonly known as choking, is an extremely dangerous event. The European Resuscitation Council recommends that back blows and abdominal thrusts should be performed for relieving FBAO in conscious adults. Reviewed here evidence suggests that applying a prone or a head-down position increases effectiveness of the above standard approaches to relieve obstruction, due to help of gravity.
Highlights
Choking is an emergency situation, and it can quickly result in death if not treated promptly [1]
The European Resuscitation Council recommends that back blows and abdominal thrusts should be performed for relieving Foreign body airway obstruction (FBAO) in conscious adults
For conscious adults showing signs of severe airway obstruction, the European Resuscitation Council recommends applying back blows followed by abdominal thrusts [6]
Summary
Choking is an emergency situation, and it can quickly result in death if not treated promptly [1]. It is estimated that choking can result in tens of thousands of deaths each year (incidence of 0.65–0.9:100,000) [3,4]. Even if other people are present during a FBAO, in only 5–13% of these cases are the observers or medical personnel able to make a correct diagnosis and initiate the appropriate treatment [12,13]. These statistics underscore the importance of developing an alternative method of treatment which could be self-applied without relying on the presence or knowledge of other people
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