Nasopharyngeal airways (NPAs) are soft plastic devices, inserted into the nose and advanced parallel to the roof of the mouth below the inferior turbinate. They are disposable and relatively cheap.

Choose an NPA with a diameter 1 mm less than the correct tracheal tube diameter. The length of the airway can be estimated from the distance between the tip of the nose and the tragus of the ear. An NPA is about 3 cm longer than an oral airway.

NPAs are better tolerated during emergence from anaesthesia than oropharyngeal airways.

The principal complication of the use of a nasal airway is bleeding, which may be profuse, though submucosal placement is also possible.