Overview of Abdominal Thrust Maneuver
The Heimlich maneuver, also known as abdominal thrusts, is an emergency method that helps clear someone’s blocked airway. You’ve probably heard about it in basic life saving (BLS) and advanced heart-saving courses (ACLS). It’s meant to help when someone is choking on something like food or small toys, but is often not emphasised as much as chest pushing and mouth-to-mouth breathing during these courses.
In the 1960s, many people died because they choked on food or other small items. Back then, people would try to stop someone from choking by hitting them hard on the back, but this didn’t work so well. Sometimes, it even pushed the object further down the person’s throat.
Dr. Henry Heimlich came up with the Heimlich maneuvre in 1974. He thought that if you quickly and strongly push in and up on a person’s stomach area, you could force enough air out of their lungs to push out whatever was stuck in their throat. Not everyone was a fan of this method at first. Groups like the American Red Cross and the American Heart Association kept teaching people to slap chokers on the back for ten more years after Dr. Heimlich introduced his maneuvre.
Nowadays, most people learn the Heimlich maneuve in life saving classes. For babies, the recommended method is still to give backslaps, and for unconscious people, chest compressions are advised. There are also different ways to do the Heimlich maneuvre depending on the situation. Some methods work better than others, so it’s still a topic of discussion among experts.
Anatomy and Physiology of Abdominal Thrust Maneuver
The Heimlich maneuver is a technique used to help someone who is choking. It involves standing behind the person, wrapping your arms around them and giving a sharp push upward and inward on the abdomen, just below the rib cage. This process is designed to force out whatever object is causing the person to choke. Most of the time, these objects get stuck above a little cartilage ring in the throat called the cricoid cartilage.
The force from this maneuver has to be directed towards the upper part of the belly and upwards towards the person’s head. If the person who needs help is pregnant, the force can be applied over the sternum, which is the long flat bone in the middle of the chest.
The reason this works is because it increases the pressure inside the chest cavity. This pressure increase affects the lung and airway, stomach, and esophagus, which are all pushed by the movement of the diaphragm muscle. This increased pressure helps to push the stuck object out and allow the person to breathe properly again.
Why do People Need Abdominal Thrust Maneuver
The abdominal thrust or Heimlich maneuver is a lifesaving technique used for someone who is choking because something is blocking their airway above the voice box. This situation is often indicated by the universal choking sign, which is when a person can’t speak, breathe, or cough, and is holding both hands up to their throat.
While there have been previous reports suggesting the Heimlich maneuver could be useful for asthma and drowning patients, this has not been proven to be effective. There has also been evidence showing that the Heimlich maneuver may not be safe for teenagers with eating disorders who make themselves vomit.
When a Person Should Avoid Abdominal Thrust Maneuver
While there aren’t any strict rules against it, the American Heart Association (AHA) doesn’t suggest using the abdominal thrust procedure, which is a method to clear the airway of a person who is choking, on infants or patients who are unconscious. This applies to pregnant people as well, they should receive chest compressions instead of having pressure applied to their abdomen.
Who is needed to perform Abdominal Thrust Maneuver?
The Heimlich maneuver is a lifesaving method that is useful because it doesn’t need a medical expert to perform it, just someone who has been trained. Dr. Heimlich introduced this technique, also known as abdominal thrusts, in 1974 on live TV. It only became widely accepted by doctors and nurses when people started sharing stories of how it saved lives. Nowadays, it’s often taught in basic life support (BLS) classes, which are courses that teach simple first-aid procedures. No special equipment is needed to do the Heimlich maneuver.
Preparing for Abdominal Thrust Maneuver
Choking incidents can occur very quickly and without warning, making it almost impossible to prepare for them. Therefore, it’s crucial to learn techniques like the Heimlich maneuver, which is a method included in Basic Life Support (BLS) training. It’s specifically used for adults who are conscious and choking.
How is Abdominal Thrust Maneuver performed
The Heimlich maneuver, also known as abdominal thrusts, is a first-aid procedure used to help someone who is choking. It is usually performed by a person standing behind the choking individual. The rescuer wraps their arms around the choking person’s waist. The rescuer’s hands are then placed a bit above the belly button. The rescuer forms a fist with one hand and grabs that fist with their other hand. They then give five powerful thrusts that go inwards and upwards towards the person’s midline. These thrusts can help push out whatever is causing the choking.
Various other techniques have been explored as well, such as the chair thrust and the auto up-thrust. These techniques deal with how pressure is applied to the choking individual’s stomach and chest to clear the obstruction. A chair thrust might be more effective in certain situations.
Some studies suggest that making abdominal and chest thrusts from the side can create more pressure in the airway, which might help clear a choking hazard more effectively. These findings were based on studies done on pigs.
A 2017 study concluded that the Heimlich maneuver might work better if the choking person is lying down on their back or stomach, especially for adults. For children, it seemed to be more effective if they were lying on their stomach.
There was also a case where a modified version of the Heimlich maneuver was used successfully on four patients who were unconscious. In this version, the choking person was placed on a table.
Remember, it’s important to know these techniques and act quickly if you see someone choking. However, it’s also important that these maneuvers are performed correctly to avoid injury. Training in first aid could be very helpful in such emergency situations.
Possible Complications of Abdominal Thrust Maneuver
The Heimlich maneuver is a technique often used to help someone who is choking by driving air upwards and out of the person’s mouth, and thus dislodging the foreign object causing the obstruction. While it can be lifesaving and is generally safe, it can sometimes cause injuries in one’s chest or stomach if performed incorrectly or too forcefully.
One study using manikins (dolls used for medical training), has suggested that if the object causing the choking doesn’t come out after the first few pushes, there may be a risk of serious harm. Common injuries caused by the Heimlich maneuver include broken ribs and tears in the stomach or food pipe (gastric or esophageal perforations).
There are other more rare, but serious, injuries that have been reported, including: splenic rupture (a tear in the spleen), pneumomediastinum (air trapped in the space around the lungs), aortic valve cusp rupture or aortic dissection (tears in different parts of the heart or aorta), diaphragmatic herniation (a hole in the diaphragm), esophageal and jejunal perforation (tears in the food pipe and part of the small intestine), hepatic rupture (a tear in the liver), cholesterol embolization leading to arterial occlusion (a blockage in an artery caused by cholesterol), and mesenteric laceration (a tear in the tissue that holds the small intestine in place).
What Else Should I Know About Abdominal Thrust Maneuver?
The Heimlich maneuver or abdominal thrusts, a technique used to save a person from choking, has provided immense value in the field of basic life support, both in healthcare settings and for the general public. While there might be rare instances of complications within the abdomen after the maneuver, it’s generally deemed as a swift, inexpensive method that anyone can execute without needing any medical training.
The American Heart Association (AHA) added the Heimlich maneuver to its basic life support program, which made a real difference in improving the success and effectiveness of treatment for sudden cardiac arrests known as cardiopulmonary resuscitation. A study conducted in 2015 showed that people who received immediate aid from bystanders using this method have improved chances of survival compared to those who first received treatment in a hospital.