Role and efficacy of rigid sinus video endoscopes in cases with failed intubation for micro laryngeal surgeries

Abstract

Successful intubation and securing the airway is a prerequisite for microlaryngeal surgeries. Failed intubation with routine intubation techniques, the unsuitability of supraglottic devices and the unavailability of flexible fibreoptic laryngoscopes led to an innovative use of the sinus rigid video endoscope for intubation. Of the 312 patients, who presented for the microlaryngeal surgery at Nova ENT Hospital Hyderabad over the last five years, in 269 patients, successful intubation could be performed by the rigid laryngoscopic method. Of the remaining 43 instances, sinus endoscopic guided intubation was carried out. This formed the basis of our study. Successful intubation could be accomplished in 41 of them and two other patients, intubation was done in more than two attempts and were considered failures for the purpose of this study. The time taken for successful intubation and the number of patients in whom there was intubation response was comparable to the routine intubation procedures.

Keywords

• difficult intubation
• failed intubation
• cormack- lehane grading
• rigid sinus video endoscopes.