Nasotracheal intubation with Airtraq optical laryngoscope in two cases of oral brachytherapy

Publication date: Available online 23 February 2015 Source:Colombian Journal of Anesthesiology Author(s): Miguel Castañeda Pascual , Eva Turumbay Ramírez , Alejandro Bilbao Ares , Juan P. Jimeno García , Mikel Batllori Gastón , Esther Hijosa Basarte Nasotracheal intubation is usually the selected airway approach for oral and maxillofacial surgery to enable a free surgical field. It is an unusual intubation technique with a high success rate. However, it is not free from difficulties and complications in certain groups of patients, like those with oral, facial or cervical tumors. The Airtraq® laryngoscope (Prodol Meditec, Vizcaya, Spain) is an optical device that facilitates tracheal intubation through the indirect visualization of the vocal cords, avoiding the need to align the oral, pharyngeal and laryngeal axis. It has shown to be useful in various difficult airway (DA) scenarios. There is a version of the device to assist with the nasal intubation technique. Two oral brachytherapy treatment cases classified as DA are discussed; the nasotracheal intubation of the patient awake was successful using the Airtraq optical laryngoscope.
Source: Colombian Journal of Anesthesiology - Category: Anesthesiology Source Type: research