endotracheal intubation

To breathe for someone with a machine, the air has to be delivered straight into the lungs and not leak away or go down the food pipe. Endotracheal intubation is how that direct line is established: a clinician passes a soft plastic tube through the mouth (or sometimes the nose), between the vocal cords, and a few centimetres down into the windpipe. A small balloon near the tube's tip is then inflated to seal it in place.

Securing the airway this way does several things at once. It guarantees a clear, protected passage for air, it lets a ventilator deliver precise volumes and pressures, and it shields the lungs from stomach contents in someone who cannot protect their own airway. Intubation is performed for impending or actual respiratory failure, during general anaesthesia, in cardiac arrest, and whenever the airway is threatened — for example by swelling, bleeding, or a depressed level of consciousness.

The procedure is usually done with sedative and muscle-relaxing drugs, and correct tube placement is then confirmed by detecting exhaled carbon dioxide and listening for breath sounds on both sides of the chest. An honest caveat: intubation is invasive and carries risks — injury to teeth or airway, misplacement into the food pipe, and the need for ongoing sedation — so it is reserved for situations where gentler support is insufficient or unsafe.