What is an oropharyngeal respiratory tract?
Oropharyngeal Airway (OPA) is a medical device that is placed in the mouth and through the tongue to maintain open airways at the unconscious victim. These devices consist of a curved piece of semi-hard plastic with a hollow center and usually have a flange at one end. OPA can also be known as Gunedel Pattern Airways and come in different sizes because they must cover a very specific area in the mouth and neck of the victim. While the OPA application may seem relatively direct and intuitive, incorrect location or use of the wrong size has the potential to cause greater injury. These factors create training in the proper use of Oropharyngeal airways, which highly recommend many resources.
When a person is unconscious, especially if he lies on his back, there is a risk that the tongue relaxes and slips into the throat and prevents it. In the field or accident, Oropharyngeal Airway allow the person to provide assistance,To move to take care of other injuries or even other victims as soon as the airways are clear without having to worry so much about the restored obstacle. In the hospital, the OPA can be used to maintain the recently cleaned airways while prepared a more permanent device. In both cases, OPA is necessary and perhaps even appropriate, with a patient with unconscious. A conscious patient is unlikely to relax and defend the tongue and prevent the airway and the presence of OPA in a conscious patient may actually cause vomiting and create an obstacle.
Oropharyngeal respiratory tracts are inserted in one of two ways, with the preferred method using the tongue depression to hold the tongue down while the OPA is inserted into the neck. The key is to prevent the tongue to prevent the throat of the oropharyngeal respiratory tract, but in less ideal situations it can also be achieved without depressing the tongue. Regardless of the way of insertion, the first step is to determine the right OPA size. This is done by placing the OPA along the jawEven victims, with a flange included in the opening of the mouth and the tip of the victim's ear. If the OPA is either significantly longer or shorter than the distance from the opening of the mouth to the ear, it can either fail to keep the airways open or create another obstacle.
In field conditions or at the site of the accident, the mouth can be forced along the back teeth with the thumb and the forefinger with a scissor movement. With the end of the flange facing the forehead, the oropharyngeal airways are then inserted with another tip on the tongue apartment and points to the back of the mouth. The tip then turns up to the roof of the mouth and using a curve as a filling on the tongue so that it holds the tongue down. The OPA then slips back along the tongue until the tip takes place around the back of the tongue - usually evident from the increase - it turned 180 ° so that the tip scored down into the neck and slipped back until the flange reaches the mouth.
Similar equipment, nosopharyngeal airways (NPA), is much narrower and made of flexible material such as rubber or latex. This is ména invasive devices, so NPA can be preferred over OPA in conscious patients. Greater simplicity of insertion and reduced chance of injury in the event of incorrect introduction makes some institutions, such as militarists, prefer NPA over most situations.