Jaw lift - a simple and effective method to open the airway in children

Assessment of breathing during resuscitation of children is important. Misj udgement due to failure to open the airway may lead to mouth-to-mouth venti lation in unconscious children who have retained spontaneous breathing effo rts, and might lead to completely ineffective ventilation with gastric dist ension. The efficiency of the standard head tilt-chin lift manoeuvre (HT-CL ) and the jaw lift manoeuvre (JL) for opening of the airway in children was investigated. Fifty children between 1 and 9 years of age breathing sponta neously during deep anaesthesia were studied. Both manoeuvres were randomly performed in all children by nurse anaesthetists. The time for opening and the quality of the airway was determined by a blind folded anaesthesiologi st listening to the breathing sounds. The standard HT-CL manoeuvre was insu fficient in 12% of the children. JL was more effective than HT-CL in openin g the airway in unconscious children who had retained attempts at spontaneo us breathing. The JL manoeuvre may, therefore, be recommended in situations when the HT-CL manoeuvre is insufficient. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Irelan d Ltd. All rights reserved.