Difficult pediatric airway based on the case of a child with orofacial cleft – to emerge the patient or to continue?

Autori:

Iva Smiljanić, Marija Bilić, Ana Brundula, Ivo Jurišić, Perislav Lauš, Morena Milić

Sažetak
Pedijatrijska je populacija po mnogo čemu specifična. Iako na prvi pogled djeca djeluju kao umanjena verzija odraslih, oni se uvelike razlikuju u anatomiji, kao i fiziologiji. Kada govorimo o pedijatrijskoj anesteziji moramo imati na umu sve anatomske, fiziološke, farmakodinamske i farmakokinetičke razlike jer će one uvelike utjecati na sve aspekte anestezije – od uvoda, preko osiguravanja i održavanja dišnog puta, do konačnog buđenja iz anestezije i ekstubacije. Kada se fiziološkim i anatomskim varijancama u pedijatrijskoj populaciji pridruže još stanja ili sindromi koji mogu dodatno otežati uspostavu dišnog puta ili ventilaciju, suočavamo se s problemom koji treba ozbiljno shvatiti i trenutno reagirati. U nebrojeno je mnogo istraživanja odavno dokazano da hipoventilacija s posljedičnom hipoksijom i hiperkarbijom može iznimno brzo rezultirati kobnom respiratornom insuficijencijom koju, ako se promptno ne reagira, u stopu može pratiti kardijalni arest. Uz pregled literature prikazujemo i primjer četveromjesečnog djeteta kod kojega je bila planirana operacija rascjepa usne u općoj endotrahealnoj anesteziji. Nakon uvoda u anesteziju, uz otežani prikaz laringealnih struktura direktnom laringoskopijom, uz pomoć videolaringoskopa i dobru vizualizaciju glotisa pokušana je intubacija koja nije bila izvediva zbog nemogućnosti plasiranja tubusa kroz preusku rimu glotidis. Operativni zahvat je odgođen za mjesec dana. U drugom pokušaju dijete je uspješno intubirano i operirano, bez ikakvih komplikacija. Zbog anatomskih i fizioloških varijacija vezanih za životnu dob svakog pojedinog djeteta, zatim različitih vrsta i opsega rascjepa, potreban je individualizirani pristup. Važno je prepoznati i situacije u kojima ne treba inzistirati na kirurškoj ili anesteziološkoj intervenciji, već odustati i malo pričekati kako bi se anatomski odnosi uslijed somatskog rasta okrenuli u djetetovu korist.
Summary

Pediatric population is specific for many reasons. Although at a first glance it may seem that children are merely a small version of adults, they differ greatly in anatomy and physiology. When we speak of pediatric anesthesia, we must have in mind all anatomical, physiological, pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic differences, because these can influence all aspects of anesthesia – from induction, securing and maintaining the airway, to emerging from anesthesia and extubation. When physiological and anatomical specifics unite with conditions and syndromes which can additionally aggravate securing of the airway or ventilation, we suddenly face the problem which has to be taken very seriously and react momentarily. Countless researches have already proved that hypoventilation with concomitant hypoxia and hypercarbia can extremely quickly result in a fatal respiratory insufficiency which can be followed by a cardiac arrest. Together with a literature review, we present a case of a 4-month old baby boy who was admitted for an elective reconstruction of a cleft lip in general anesthesia. After induction, there were difficulties in the visualization of laryngeal structures by direct laryngoscopy. With videolaryngoscopy a good visualization was achieved, but unfortunately intubation was not possible due to inability to pass the endotracheal tube through the vocal cords. The surgery was postponed for a month. In the second
attempt the child was successfully intubated and surgery performed with no complications. Due to anatomical and physiological differences characteristic for the age of specific pediatric patients, different types and sizes of the clefts, an individual approach is essential. It is very important to recognize situations in which one should not insist on surgical or anesthetic intervention, but should instead back off and wait shortly for anatomic relations to change due to somatic growth, in favor of the child.