[Invasive airway management update 2011].

Invasive airway management techniques are still challenging even for skilled anesthesiologists, intensivists and emergency physicians. All current percutaneous tracheostomy techniques are based on Seldinger's principle. Using the recent introduced Blue Dolphin Kit is feasible and safe, but without clear advantage compared to other kits. There is no data available to generally support performing early (<8 days) tracheostomy in intensive care patients requiring mechanical ventilation. Experimental data show promising results of supporting expiration through a small bore catheter using ejectors based on Bernoulli's principle in terms of minimizing risk of barotrauma during emergency transtracheal high frequency jet ventilation.