Advanced Bechterew's disease presents with increasing ossification of spinal column, from lower lumbar segments upwards, first causing impossibility to place spinal block in lumbar region, and later, due to stiffness of cervical spine, difficult intubation because of inability to extend and/or flex the neck during direct laryngoscopy and intubation. Mask ventilation, on the other hand, usually ...

The McCune-Albright syndrome is rare disease diagnosed by the clinical triad, fibrous dysplasia, café-au lait skin pigmentations and endocrine hyperfunction. Those patients with bone issues could have various surgeries under general anesthesia. Airway abnormality and various endocrine abnormalities should be considered during general anesthesia for McCune-Albright syndrome patients. A 15-year-o...

BACKGROUND One of the main challenges in anesthesiology is difficult intubation. There are many anatomical parameters for evaluating the feasibility of tracheal intubation; one that can reliably predict a difficult intubation is the Cormack-Lehane classification obtained during direct laryngoscopy. This is an invasive procedure that cannot be performed in an awake patient or for pre-anesthetic ...

In order to define the changes in intracranial pressure which occur during tracheal intubation in young infants, a Ladd transducer was used to monitor anterior fontanelle pressure (AFP) non-invasively in awake (group 1, n = 14) and anaesthetized (group 2, n = 10) infants during intubation of the trachea. Heart rate and systolic arterial pressure were also recorded. In quiet, undisturbed infants...

Dear Editor, Post-tracheostomy stenosis is a rare but serious complication that may be encountered in the emergency department (ED). The incidence of severe tracheal stenosis (TS) with symptoms is seen in 1-2% of patients (1-3). Patients with severe TS may present with respiratory difficulty, requiring emergency intubation in the ED. A 35-year-old male was a follow-up case of an exploratory lap...

OBJECTIVES To create a state-of-the-art overview of the new and expanding role of ultrasonography in clinical decision-making, intervention and management of the upper and lower airways, that is clinically relevant, up-to-date and practically useful for clinicians. METHODS This is a narrative review combined with a structured Medline literature search. RESULTS Ultrasonography can be utilise...

To cite: Mizutani L, Yazawa K, Komatsu Y. BMJ Case Reports Published online: 13 December 2012 doi:10.1136/bcr-2012007591 DESCRIPTION A 22-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital because of loss of consciousness. She was seen ingesting excess schizophrenia medication following an argument. Twelve hours later, she was found unconscious and surrounded by vomit. Assessment on admission revealed...

There are circumstances when induction of general anesthesia followed by direct laryngoscopy and intubation is contraindicated. This case report describes and presents a protocol for a method of endotracheal intubation that combines the benefits of light wand and fiberoptic techniques. The patient was a 73-year-old male with a history of two cervical fusions. He was reported to be "unintubatabl...

BACKGROUND Mucoepidermoid carcinoma of the trachea is a rare pediatric malignancy that presents unique challenges in diagnosis, operative management, and surveillance. METHODS AND RESULTS We present a 17-year-old girl with primary tracheal mucoepidermoid carcinoma presenting in acute respiratory distress due to near-total occlusion of the tracheal airway. An algorithmic approach to preoperati...