The use of the C-MAC videolaryngoscope for awake intubation in patients with a predicted extremely difficult airway: case series

Abstract

Tomasz Gaszyński Department of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Therapy, Medical University of Łódź, Łódź, Poland Abstract: The C-MAC videolaryngoscope was evaluated for intubation in patients with predicted extremely difficult airway. The presented cases are patients with neoplasm tumors in larynx. In all cases, awake intubation using C-MAC videolaryngoscope was performed in patients breathing spontaneously, under local anaesthesia, with oxygen administered via nasal catheter. All intubations were successful and uneventful. The pre-surgery examination (CT scans and fiberscope laryngeal examination) was compared with view of larynx obtained during laryngoscopy. Based on my experience, I assume that C-MAC videolaryngoscope is a very useful tool for anaesthesiologists and can be applied not only for unexpected difficult intubation but also for predicted difficult airway. Moreover, it could be used as an additional diagnosis tool before larynx surgery. The view obtained with the C-MAC videlaryngoscope corresponds with larynx examination performed before surgery, and could potentially reveal more details. Keywords: videolaryngoscope, airway management, predicted difficult airways, C-MAC