Monday 30 May 2016

BLIND NASAL INTUBATION ITS RELEVANCE TODAY

Airway management is core for an anesthesiologist. Airway difficulties during induction of general anesthesia are a concern for anesthesiologists. Hence a good clinical judgment is important for selecting the method for airway intervention. In patients of Mallampatti classification - IV or reduced mouth opening there are three methods for securing the airway. The most advanced and recommended method is awake nasal intubation using fibro-optic bronchoscope. The second option is retrograde intubation. The last method is blind nasal intubation. This method was regularly used to intubate patients of nil mouth opening before the fibro-optic bronchoscope was introduced. In experienced hands of an anesthesiologist, this is a very good method to secure the airway. It requires very little time compared to the first two methods and does not require expensive instruments. In today?s time blind nasal intubation is not performed regularly as the modern anesthesiologists are more dependent on instruments such as video- laryngoscope etc. However in centers where such expensive instruments are not available or in remote centers, blind nasal intubation can be the key for securing the airway for patients with difficult airway. Here we report a patient who is a case of squamous cell carcinoma of the cheek with reduced mouth opening posted for right wide excision of lip with forehead flap sos radical neck dissection managed with blind nasal intubation. - See more at: 

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