Airway management & difficult intubation expert witness
Independent review of airway events in the operating room, PACU, ICU and emergency department — from airway assessment and planning to rescue, extubation and post-procedure monitoring.
After induction of general anesthesia and neuromuscular blockade, spontaneous breathing is reduced or abolished. The clinician must then secure the airway — with a face mask, a supraglottic device such as a laryngeal mask, or an endotracheal tube. When this fails, oxygen levels can fall within minutes, and the consequences can include cardiac arrest, hypoxic brain injury or death.
Intubation and extubation are two of the most critical periods in anesthesia and critical care. Every anesthesia provider is trained in advanced airway management, and emergency and ICU personnel are expected to manage the airway according to their training and current guidelines. Despite videolaryngoscopy, capnography and published difficult-airway algorithms, failed and unrecognized misplaced intubations still occur — and the record often shows whether warning signs were available and how the team responded.
Dr. Steudel has managed airways throughout more than three decades of clinical practice, including in cardiac and thoracic surgery, where one-lung ventilation and complex airway devices are routine. His review reconstructs the minute-by-minute sequence from the anesthesia record, monitor data and nursing documentation.
Questions Dr. Steudel addresses for counsel
- Was the airway evaluated and the plan documented before induction?
- Were backup devices, personnel and a rescue strategy available?
- When did hypoxemia begin, and when was it recognized and treated?
- Was tube placement confirmed with waveform capnography?
- Were extubation criteria met, and was monitoring adequate afterwards?
Every opinion is based on the records reviewed and the standard of care applicable at the time. The analysis may support, limit or contradict the initial theory of the case — and counsel is told so early.
Often reviewed together
Hypoxic brain injury, cardiac arrest & death
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