| Title | Dental implant removal to facilitate suspension laryngoscopy and laser treatment of an obstructed airway. | | Author(s) | Hume-Smith H, Fowler A, Vaz F, Suaris P | | Institution | Specialist Registrar, Department of Anaesthesia, The Royal National Throat, Nose and Ear Hospital, London, UK. | | Source | Anaesthesia 2009 Oct 22. | | Abstract | Summary A 29-year-old patient presented with dysphonia, dysphagia and a progressive history of stridor over 6 weeks. His past medical history included childhood nasolabial rhabdomyosarcoma treated by surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. This had resulted in marked abnormalities of the facial skeleton, limited neck extension and restricted mouth opening of 1 cm, in part due to dental implants. After careful discussion and planning within a multidisciplinary team, the airway was optimised by temporary removal of the dental implants. This enabled a suspension laryngoscope to be passed, permitting carbon dioxide laser treatment to an obstruction at the laryngeal inlet and eliminating the need for a tracheostomy. | | Language | ENG | | Pub Type(s) | JOURNAL ARTICLE
| | PubMed ID | 19849679 |
|
