thrust

Treatment of airway obstruction that consists of inward and upward thrusts of the thumb side of a closed fist in the area between the umbilicus and the xiphoid process. If the patient is conscious, the procedure is performed from behind the person standing; if the patient is unconscious, it can be performed while kneeling beside or straddling the patient and using the heel of the hand rather than a closed fist. See: Heimlich maneuver

CAUTION!

This technique is no longer taught for the unconscious patient as the American Heart Association Guidelines replaced it with chest thrusts or CPR compression.

A maneuver for opening the airway of unconscious patients or of patients who cannot control their own airway, by jutting the patient's jaw forward, which in turn moves the tongue away from the back of the throat. This procedure is especially used to open the airway of patients with suspected spinal injury because the cervical spine is not moved during a properly performed jaw thrust.

Treatment for patients suspected of having a complete airway obstruction. For conscious, standing adults, it consists of upward and inward thrusts of the thumb side of the rescuer's closed fist, coming from behind the victim, in the area between the umbilicus and the xiphoid process. See: Heimlich maneuver

A palpable heaving of the chest in the substernal area. This is a physical finding detectable in some persons with right ventricular hypertrophy.

The infantile habit of pushing the tongue between the alveolar ridges or incisor teeth during the initial stages of suckling and swallowing. If this habit persists beyond infancy, it may cause anterior open occlusion, jaw deformation, or abnormal tongue function.