Emergency airway puncture is the placement of a hollow needle through the throat into the airway. It is done to treat life-threatening choking.

Needle cricothyrotomy

Emergency airway puncture is done in an emergency situation, when someone is choking and all other efforts to assist with breathing have failed.

• A hollow needle or tube can be inserted into the throat, just below the Adam's apple (cricoid cartilage), into the airway.
• In a hospital, a small cut in the skin is made before inserting the needle.

A cricothyrotomy is an emergency procedure to relieve an airway obstruction until surgery can be done to place a breathing tube (tracheostomy).

Risks for this procedure include:

• Injury to the voice box (larynx), thyroid gland, or esophagus

Risks for any surgery are:

• Bleeding
• Infection

How well the person does depends on the cause of the airway blockage and how quickly the person receives proper breathing support.

See: Tracheostomy

Hebert RB, Bose S, Mace SE. Cricothyrotomy and transtracheal jet ventilation. In: Roberts JR, Hedges JR, eds. Clinical Procedures in Emergency Medicine. 5th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders Elsevier; 2009:chap 6.

Thomas SH, Brown DFM. Foreign bodies. In: Marx J, ed. Rosen's Emergency Medicine: Concepts and Clinical Practice. 7th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Mosby Elsevier; 2009: chap 57.