difficult intubation

What is intubation? In anaesthesia it usually means endotracheal intubation, which is the term referring to the placement of a breathing tube into the trachea, or windpipe / main breathing passage. We do this to control the "airway" during surgery, when your normal protective reflexes are suppressed by the anesthetic drugs. This may cause respiratory depression / obstruction, or even complete arrest - an extreme degree of sleep apnoea if you like. Some of our drugs ( relaxants ) temporarily paralyse the muscles so you cannot breathe at all , and we use a ventilator to do it for you. We may also intubate when there is a concern about regurgitated stomach contents getting into your lungs - as in emergency surgery where you have not been fasting ( nothing to eat for 6 hours ), or if you have gastro-esophageal reflux disease ( GERD ).