The Heimlich Maneuver: Breaking Down the Complications

The very young and the very old are vulnerable to choking, and there are over 4000 choking-related deaths annually in the United States. Complications from the Heimlich maneuver (HM), as reported in infrequent case reports, predominantly relate to the elderly. It is doubtful that the denominator, numerator, appropriateness, expertise, and problems of maneuvers applied to choking victims will ever be known. This case report and literature review suggests that the treatment for acute elderly choking victims should be applied carefully and that esophageal food impaction, which should be rapidly distinguishable from choking, can have serious complications with application of the HM.