Airway management is a common procedure within emergency and critical care medicine. Traditional techniques for predicting and managing a difficult airway each have important limitations. As the field has evolved, point-of-care ultrasound has been increasingly utilized for this application. Several measures can be used to sonographically predict a difficult airway, including skin to epiglottis, hyomental distance, and tongue thickness. Ultrasound can also be used to confirm endotracheal tube intubation and assess endotracheal tube depth. Ultrasound is superior to the landmark-based approach for locating the cricothyroid membrane, particularly in patients with difficult anatomy. Finally, we provide an algorithm for using ultrasound to manage the crashing patient on mechanical ventilation. After reading this article, readers will have an enhanced understanding of the role of ultrasound in airway management.
Citations
Citations to this article as recorded by
Point-of-care Ultrasonography for Endotracheal Tube Confirmation: An Essential Adjunct in Airway Management Neeraj Kumar Indian Journal of Critical Care Medicine.2026; 30(2): 92. CrossRef
A Prospective Observational Study to Identify the Predictors of First Pass Success with Video-Laryngoscope-Guided Nasal Intubation in Patients with Restricted Mouth Opening in Oral Cavity Tumours Aishwarya Ramkrishnan, P R Pravin Sankar Airway.2026; 9(1): 33. CrossRef
Training for pediatric cannot intubate cannot oxygenate: surgical airway should replace needle cricothyrotomy Allison M. B. Lehman, Paul Amstutz, Jackson E. Moore, Matthew Johnson, Christopher Obersteadt, Dominique Williams, Mary J. Waxman, Morgan Blubaugh, Anaya Parikh, Timothy R. Walsh, Daniel E. Bruegger, Shawn B. Sood, Adrienne N. Malik, Andrew Pirotte Frontiers in Disaster and Emergency Medicine.2026;[Epub] CrossRef
Airway management of adults in the acute care setting Michael Gottlieb, Stephanie C DeMasi, Jonathan D Casey, Matthew W Semler, Kevin G Buell BMJ.2026; 393: e086612. CrossRef
Diagnostic Accuracy of Point-of-care Ultrasonography for Endotracheal Tube Confirmation: Interpreting Evidence beyond Pooled Estimates Jay Prakash, Khushboo Saran, Kalavathy Swarna, Bodhisatwa Choudhuri, Bikram K Gupta Indian Journal of Critical Care Medicine.2026; 30(4): 357. CrossRef
Seeing is believing: Point-of-care ultrasound for endotracheal tube confirmation Michael Gottlieb The American Journal of Emergency Medicine.2026; 108: 10. CrossRef
Point-of-Care Ultrasound—A Paradigm Shift in Clinical Practice and Medical Education: A Narrative Review Sulafa Ali, Mohammed A. Alhassan, Hayat A. Ahmed, Ammar Elgadi Sudan Journal of Medical Sciences.2026; 21(2): 169. CrossRef
In-depth tube assessment by ultrasound: double twist sign to evaluate endotracheal tube depth—results of a cadaver diagnostic accuracy study Jorge Ernesto Lopez Matta, Marissa Ginette Vive, Carlos Vsevolod Elzo Kraemer, Jeroen Alphons Janson, Marco Cornelis de Ruiter, Pieter Roel Tuinman, Robbert Godfried Notenboom, David Johannes van Westerloo Intensive Care Medicine Experimental.2026;[Epub] CrossRef
Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) in emergency airway management: emerging evidence for assessment, prediction, and confirmation Fahad Abuguyan Internal and Emergency Medicine.2026;[Epub] CrossRef
Evolution of Emergency Airway Management From Anatomical Prediction to a Systems-Based Resuscitative Approach in the Emergency Department: A Narrative Review Anagani Hrushikesh, Chinnam Vishnupriya, Chetla Rakesh, Anusree K, Dhanasekaran B S, Gireesh Kumar Cureus.2026;[Epub] CrossRef
Transtracheal ultrasound for identifying endotracheal intubation in adults Michael Gottlieb, Daniel J Kim, Gary D Peksa, Jennifer Westrick, Amy Marks Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews.2025;[Epub] CrossRef
Emergency medicine updates: Managing the patient with return of spontaneous circulation Brit Long, Michael Gottlieb The American Journal of Emergency Medicine.2025; 93: 26. CrossRef
Comparison of Airway Ultrasound and Conventional Methods in Airway Management: Effectiveness and Temporal Efficiency in Traumatic Patients in Emergency Department Vijay Kumar SS, Pranup Roshan Quadras, Sofiya Crastha, Anila Jose National Journal of Medical Research.2025; 15(02): 109. CrossRef
Emergency medicine updates: Cardiac arrest airway management Brit Long, Michael Gottlieb The American Journal of Emergency Medicine.2025; 94: 158. CrossRef
Ultrasonography – A New Method for Airway Assessment: A Review of the Literature B. Dimitrova, M. Gaydarova, G. Nikolova, T. Ilchev, Z. Jeleva, M. Mladenova Acta Medica Bulgarica.2025; 52(3): 89. CrossRef
PeRLS for procedural sedation: A specialized resuscitation framework enhanced by EASy-ALS ultrasound integration Nibras F. Bughrara, Rosie Gaylor, William Hsu, Chelsey Santino, Mohamed Shembesh, Aliaksei Pustavoitau Best Practice & Research Clinical Anaesthesiology.2025; 39(3): 255. CrossRef
VIA AÉREA DIFÍCIL EM CENÁRIOS CRÍTICOS: UMA REVISÃO SISTEMÁTICA SOBRE AVALIAÇÃO, TECNOLOGIAS E SEGURANÇA DO PACIENTE Eduardo Vilela Rodrigues, José Matos De Oliveira Neto, Julia Yurie Nakao Ravazzi, Laura Favero Janini Abboud, Maria Eduarda Colmanetti Rezende, Ana Laura Fugita Santos, Amanda Freire Candido LUMEN ET VIRTUS.2025; 16(55): e10788. CrossRef
Diagnostic accuracy of point-of-care ultrasound for confirming endotracheal tube placement in pediatric acute care settings: a systematic review and meta-analysis Mohammed Alsabri, Khaled Abouelmagd, Ahmed Bostamy Elsnhory, Mohammed Tarek Hasan, Shree Rath, Mohamed Ismaeil Elnady, Yisha Cheng, Eslam Abady, Abdelrahman M. Tawfik, Mohamed Nasser ELshabrawi, Patrick Yoo, Aysha Hasan, Mohammed Hamzah BMC Emergency Medicine.2025;[Epub] CrossRef
SONO case series: point-of-care ultrasound for intubation confirmation Michael Gottlieb, James R O'Brien, Daven Patel Emergency Medicine Journal.2024; 41(6): 379. CrossRef
Airway and Thoracic Ultrasound Martin Demant, Paul Koscumb, Elaine Situ-LaCasse Emergency Medicine Clinics of North America.2024; 42(4): 755. CrossRef
Point-of-Care Ultrasound: A Vital Tool for Anesthesiologists in the Perioperative and Critical Care Settings Ankita Dhir, Dinkar Bhasin, Bhavna Bhasin-Chhabra, Abhilash Koratala Cureus.2024;[Epub] CrossRef
Emergency medicine updates: Endotracheal intubation Brit Long, Michael Gottlieb The American Journal of Emergency Medicine.2024; 85: 108. CrossRef
Current trends in emergency airway management: a clinical review Sangun Nah, Yonghee Lee, Sol Ji Choi, Jeongwoo Lee, Soyun Hwang, Seongmi Lim, Inhye Lee, Young Soon Cho, Hyun Soo Chung Clinical and Experimental Emergency Medicine.2024; 11(3): 243. CrossRef
Difficult Airway: Is this the Time to Focus on Point-of-care Ultrasonography? Sunil Karanth, Mahesha Padyana Indian Journal of Critical Care Medicine.2024; 29(1): 1. CrossRef
First
Prev
