Causes of the Difficult Airway

Difficult intubation and anesthetic management in an adult patient with undiagnosed congenital tracheal stenosis: a case report

“…This problem may be due to tracheal stenosis resulting from thyroid or mediastinal tumors, previous tracheostomy, prolonged intubation, traumatic lesions, or a congenital anomaly. 3,4 According to the algorithm from the Practice Guidelines of the American Society of Anesthesiologists Task Force, unconscious patients who ventilate well with a mask are followed through the nonemergency pathway. In our case, we did not want to attempt intubation more than three times.…”

“…Undiagnosed tracheal stenosis caused by congenital factors, trauma, tumors, or postintubation injury 3,4 can cause difficulty in advancing the endotracheal tube. Depending on the location and severity of the stenosis, and the type of surgery, there are multiple options for maintenance of the airway.…”

Scar contracture of anterior tonsillar pillar leading to difficult intubation

“…Inability to maintain oxygenation can lead to brain damage and even death. [1] A thorough history and physical examination is essential before taking up any patient for anesthesia induction. Various tests and scores have been devised to predict difficult intubation.…”

“…Airway impairment can be above the larynx, supraglottic, glottic, subglottic or tracheobronchial. [1] Adequate equipment, anesthetists’ skills and expert help at hand go a long way in tackling such crisis situations. We discuss a case of a lady who was posted for submandibular surgery in whom intubation was difficult due to a rare cause.…”

Airway management of recovered pediatric patients with severe head and neck burns: a review

“…There are approximately 10 000 pediatric burn survivors in the United States each year, many of whom will present for reconstructive surgery after severe burns in the head and neck (1). These recovered burn victims, who are beyond the acute phase of injury, often have significant scarring and contractures in the face, mouth, nares, neck, and chest, which can make airway management challenging and potentially lead to a 'cannot intubate, cannot ventilate' scenario (2). Although numerous cases have been presented in the literature on this topic (3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17), there are no comprehensive review articles on the unique challenges of airway management in the recovered pediatric burn patient with distorted airway anatomy.…”