Emergency Airway Management using a Laryngeal Mask Airway (LMA) Following Extubation in an Infant with a Congenital Facial Anomaly - A case report -

A female infant (4 months-old) with Goldenhar syndrome was scheduled for cheiloplasty to treat a transverse facial cleft and congenital macrostomia.There was no past history of difficulty during feeding or airway obstruction.Following induction of anesthesia using an inhalational anesthetic technique, conventional oro-tracheal intubation was possible.However, following extubation of the endotracheal tube she developed an upper airway obstruction.Her lungs could not be ventilated using a facial mask and oxygen saturation was decreased.A #1 laryngeal mask airway (LMA) was inserted immediately, which allowed us to ventilate her lungs and restore the oxygen saturation.Here we describe the use of a LMA for emergency airway management in an infant.(Korean J Anesthesiol 2008; 54: 569∼72)