Placement of a flexible tube into the trachea to maintain an open airway is known as what?

• A. Endotracheal intubation
• B. RSI
• C. FAST exam
• D. Pan scan

Answer: (A)

Endotracheal intubation is the process of inserting a flexible tube through the mouth or nose into the trachea to secure and maintain an open airway for ventilation. This maneuver is done in settings like anesthesia, critical illness, or trauma to protect the airway and enable reliable breathing support. A related technique, rapid sequence intubation, refers to the method used to perform the intubation quickly with sedation and paralysis to reduce aspiration risk, but the act described here is the placement of the tube itself. The other terms refer to trauma imaging studies and do not describe airway management.