What is intubation and how is intubation done?

The coronavirus, which occurred in Wuhan, China in December 2019, continues to threaten the whole world with death. Especially with the increase in cases in Turkey, too many coronavirus patients are hospitalized in intensive care units.

All details about the coronavirus epidemic in Turkey are frequently wondered by citizens and these questions are followed in search engines. One of them is undoubtedly what is intubation? The question is coming. The Ministry of Health announces the number of deaths and cases, the number of intubated patients and the number of recovered patients every evening in the table published on the coronavirus website. On the other hand, our Minister of Health explains all the data related to the coronavirus in the most authoritative way every day towards the evening hours.

What is an Intubated Patient?

In general, when we look at the subject, the mouth and nasal canals into the respiratory tract, that is, into the trachea, by means of laryngoscopy or special apparatus, in order to protect the airway in cases where the respiratory or respiratory tract safety is damaged or at risk of deterioration, and to switch to artificial respiration for the purpose of administering medication when continuous ventilation is required. The process of placing a special tube with is known as

In order to be able to connect the patients with respiratory failure who are sick enough to be unable to breathe on their own, a tube that reaches the windpipe from the mouth must be inserted, this tube insertion process is called intubation.

On the other hand, in many surgical cases, the patient will need to be put to sleep and muscle relaxant drugs will be required in order to perform the surgery. Due to these drugs given, the patient's breathing function may be lost after a while, and after this process, the patient is connected to the respirator during the operation and the patient becomes intubated for this.

Recovery of the Intubated Patient

During the intubation procedure, the patient is put to sleep by administering drugs in order to prevent the patient from being disturbed and coughing as a reflex. However, depending on the cause or condition of the disease, drugs or narcotic drugs can be given continuously or stopped completely. While awake, the intubated patient can communicate with his/her surroundings by using sign language or by correspondence.

The intubation process will be terminated when the conditions that cause the patient's respiratory failure disappear and the patient will be able to breathe adequately on their own. The respirator, which is attached to the body through the nose or mouth, is removed and thus, the patient can reach the level of breathing on his own voluntarily.

Especially when the new type of coronavirus spread in the world, doctors or the World Health Organization started to develop new studies and researches because they did not have enough information on this subject. In particular, patients have difficulty breathing because the coronavirus directly attacks the lungs. In this way, patients who have problems in breathing are provided to breathe by being intubated, that is, by being connected to a breathing device.