The table maneuver: a procedure used with success in four cases of unconscious choking older subjects.

Background: confronted with an unconscious choking victim, it is recommended to call an ambulance and start mouth-to-mouth and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). We describe a procedure called the "table maneuver" that was successful in relieving foreign-body airway obstruction in 4 cases of choking in unconscious elderly patients over a 6-year period in the same long-term care facility.

Methods: the patients ranged in age from 70 to 89 years and were cyanosed and unconscious after choking while having a meal at a table.