The Shared Airway: Tracheal Mass Excision

Abstract

We report a case of successful airway management of a 26-year-old male patient who was posted for tracheal mass excision. The main challenge in such a case is to formulate a plan to provide maximum surgical access to the trachea for mass excision through an intraoral approach while ensuring adequate oxygenation and airway management. The patient presented with acute respiratory distress in the emergency ward. On computed tomography (CT), the patient was diagnosed with a polypoidal tracheal tumor occluding more than 90% of the tracheal lumen and 5.8 cm away from the carina. The case was successfully managed using a peripheral bypass for airway management. After the removal of the tumor, a tracheostomy tube was placed through the tracheotomy hole used for tumor excision. The whole process was uneventful.

Keywords

• difficult airway
• peripheral bypass
• tracheal mass