Great care needs to be taken during the planning phase to maximize airway patency.

Rapid assessment of airway patency and respiratory effort must be performed.

Cricoid force greater than 40 N can compromise airway patency and make tracheal intubation difficult.

Similarly, airway patency and venous return may be compromised by circumferential burns involving the neck.

Firstly, excellent airway patency was obtained in 98% of patients and did not deteriorate during the course of the anaesthetic.

Supportive measures include observation of vital signs, especially Glasgow Coma Scale and airway patency.

Airway patency of the unconscious patient is maintained either by manipulation of the jaw or by the use of nasopharyngeal or oropharyngeal airway.

An anaesthetist's ability to maintain airway patency by using a conventional facemask is not a skill easily acquired, nor is it made redundant by this new piece of equipment.

With the loss of consciousness caused by general anaesthesia, there is loss of protective airway reflexes (such as coughing), loss of airway patency and sometimes loss of a regular breathing pattern due to the effect of anaesthetics, opioids, or muscle relaxants.

Treatment of phenobarbital overdose is supportive, and consists mainly in the maintenance of airway patency (through endotracheal intubation and mechanical ventilation), correction of bradycardia and hypotension (with intravenous fluids and vasopressors, if necessary) and removal of as much drug as possible from the body.