This site is intended for healthcare professionals

Go to /sign-in page

You can view 5 more pages before signing in

Sellick Manoeuvre

Last reviewed dd mmm yyyy. Last edited dd mmm yyyy

Authoring team

This is a method of preventing regurgitation of stomach contents into the larynx during intubation and induction. It is particularly indicated:

  • for general anaesthesia when the patient has not fasted, or when, as a result of pain or drugs such as opiates or alcohol, gastric emptying is delayed
  • in patients with a hiatus hernia
  • for all emergency inductions and intubations
  • in those in the late stages of pregnancy

The cricoid cartilage is manually pushed back to occlude the oesophagus. This entails:

  • an assistant locating the position of the cricoid cartilage before induction
  • applying firm pressure backwards with thumb and forefinger as soon as anaesthesia has been achieved
  • only releasing pressure once endotracheal intubation has been confirmed

Create an account to add page annotations

Annotations allow you to add information to this page that would be handy to have on hand during a consultation. E.g. a website or number. This information will always show when you visit this page.