Abstract
Progressive airway compromise from a neck haematoma is a feared complication of head and neck surgery that can rapidly lead to death if not urgently intervened upon. We report a case of a patient developing a progressively expanding neck haematoma on the first postoperative night after parotidectomy and neck dissection for malignancy. Although he did not have respiratory compromise or stridor, ultrasound examination of his airway revealed marked tracheal deviation, and flexible nasoendoscopy showed significant supraglottic swelling. The decision was made for an awake fibreoptic intubation; however, a complicating factor was a history of lignocaine allergy. This case report describes the unconventional use of atomised ropivacaine in a concentration of 0.5% for topicalisation of the airway. Along with conscious sedation with remifentanil, ropivacaine provided excellent conditions for awake intubation, following which a significant amount of blood was evacuated from the face and neck.
Reference12 articles.
1. Law JA . Chapter 55. management of the patient with a neck Hematoma. In: Hung O , Murphy MF , eds. Access medicine. 2nd ed. New York, NY: The McGraw-Hill Companies, 2012. Available: https://accessanesthesiology.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?bookid=519§ionid=41048448
2. Management of haematoma after thyroid surgery: systematic review and multidisciplinary consensus guidelines from the difficult airway society, the British association of endocrine and thyroid surgeons and the British association of otorhinolaryngology, head and neck surgery;Iliff;Anaesthesia,2022
3. The obstructed airway in head and neck surgery
4. Lazar AE , Gherghinescu MC . Airway ultrasound for anesthesia and in intensive care patients—A narrative review of the literature. J Clin Med 2022;11:6327. doi:10.3390/jcm11216327
5. Kostyk P , Francois K , Salik I . Airway anesthesia for awake tracheal intubation: a review of the literature. Cureus 2021;13:e16315. doi:10.7759/cureus.16315