Airtraq in difficult paediatric airway report of three cases

• Published in: Colombian journal of anesthesiology (Inglâes) Vol. 46; no. 2; pp. 168 - 172
• Main Authors: Nájera-Losada, Diana Carolina, Pérez-Moreno, John Carlos, Sanabria-Carretero, Pascual, Castro-Parga, Luis Elías
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English; Portuguese
• Published: SCARE-Sociedad Colombiana de Anestesiología y Reanimación 01-06-2018
• Subjects: ANESTHESIOLOGY; Manejo de la Vía Aérea; Airway Management; Congenital Abnormalities; Anestesia; Informes de Casos; Anesthesia; Laringoscopía; Anomalías Congénitas; Laryngoscopy; Case Reports
• ISSN: 2256-2087; 0120-3347
• DOI: 10.1097/CJ9.0000000000000031

Abstract The difficult pediatric airway is a challenge for the anesthetist due to the difficulty achieving an adequate assessment, the paucity of management algorithms, lack of accurate knowledge regarding incidence, as well as limitations of the various devices in this group of patients. We present 3 clinical cases of pediatric patients with craniofacial malformations. Although amenable to ventilation, they had a history of difficult orotracheal intubation during previous interventions but were managed successfully with the Airtraq videolaryngoscope. Although this device has not been studied to a large extent in pediatrics, there are different sizes suitable for patient age. This, together with ease of use, fast learning curve and successful approach to the difficult airway in the few published studies, has contributed to turn it into a primary and rescue technique when the initial approach has failed in situations of difficult pediatric airway.