Intubating a SARS Patient

In some high-risk instances (i.e., endotracheal intubation, bronchoscopy, sputum induction) airborne transmission may be possible, resulting in exposure to a particularly high viral load.

The best summary of the measures that need to be taken to minimize the risk to the anesthetist when intubating a suspected SARS patient, were recently published by Kamming, Gardam and Chung from the Toronto Western Hospital (Kamming et al.):