Securing airway in a burn patient with inhalation injury – A narrow escape

Abstract

Inhaltion injury is one of the major determinants of the outcome, morbidity and mortality in burn patients. Early intervention to secure the airway in a suspected inhalation injury proves vital in the management and outcome of such patients. Failure to identify such cases will push the attending physicians into a vortex and the patients will succumb to the injury. High degree of suspicion and the ability to identify airway burns is a must for all physicians involved in the management of burn patients. Here we present a case of inhalation injury where airway management was delayed by a few hours due to technical and logistic issues, where in we had a very hard time securing the airway.

Keywords

• airway
• burns
• inhalation injury