Tracheal intubation

Tracheal intubation, usually known as intubation, is when a flexible plastic tube is put into the trachea (windpipe) to keep an open airway or to help put certain drugs into the body.^[1] It is normally done in critically injured, ill, or anesthetized patients to keep air moving in and out of the lungs, including mechanical ventilation, and to prevent the possibility of asphyxiation.^[2]

Tracheal intubation
Anesthesiologist using the Glidescope video laryngoscope to intubate the trachea of a morbidly obese elderly person with challenging airway anatomy
Specialty	Anesthesiology, emergency medicine, critical care medicine
ICD-9-CM	96.04
MeSH	D007442
OPS-301 code	8-701
MedlinePlus	003449