AIRWAY MANAGEMENT IN POST BURN CONTRACTURE PATIENTS USING LMA BLOCKBUSTER: A CASE SERIES tanmayanesthesia@gmail.com

 

AIRWAY MANAGEMENT IN POST BURN CONTRACTURE PATIENTS USING LMA BLOCKBUSTER: A CASE SERIES

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India

Oral or Poster

Burn injury is a global health problem, with an estimated annual incidence of 1 million burn injury in India. Even with optimal care, nearly 50% of patients following burn injury present with post burn contractures which are a leading cause of morbidity, disability and disfigurement. Airway management in post burn contracture (PBC) neck patients is a challenging affair due to reduced range of neck motion, nonalignment of the various airway axes and difficulty in neck positioning. Use of supraglottic device (SGDs) for managing such patients is being increasingly used. There is limited data on use of LMA BlockBuster (2nd generation supraglottic device) in PBC neck patients.

After seeking written and informed consent, five adult patients with moderate post burn contracture (modified onah II) with adequate mouth opening were selected for this case series. All the included patients were identified to be an increased risk of difficult airway.

We report successful airway management of 5 cases with moderate neck contracture (modified onah II) with adequate mouth opening scheduled for contracture release with use of BlockBuster LMA alone or as an airway conduit for blind intubation.

Although awake fiberoptic intubation is still considered the gold standard in patients with difficult airway, there is a growing evidence of use of pre-shaped supraglottic devices for management of moderate post-burn neck contractures. Use of LMA blockbuster alone or as a conduit can be favourable device for planned airway management in mild and moderate post burn neck contracture patients if fiberoptic intubation is not available.