Evaluation of Video Laryngoscopy in Patients With Head and Neck Pathology

Patients who undergo general anesthesia for surgical procedures frequently need to have a breathing tube placed ("tracheal intubation") for the duration of the procedure. Most often airway management is routine for an experienced anesthesiologist. Less often, airway management can be difficult and can result in patient harm. In order to reduce risk, anesthesiologists routinely evaluate patients' airways by obtaining a relevant history and doing a physical exam, which can aid in predicting which airways may be difficult to manage. The "gold standard" for management of the anticipated difficult airway is to perform an awake flexible bronchoscopic intubation after anesthetizing the airway with local anesthesia. This affords added safety because the airway remains patent and the patient breaths spontaneously until a tracheal tube is secured, at which point general anesthesia can be induced.

Recently, authors have advocated for alternative methods of management of the predicted difficult airway, most commonly by using a video laryngoscope to perform the awake intubation. A video laryngoscope provides an indirect view of the larynx using a camera at the tip of a rigid laryngoscope. It takes less training to gain and maintain proficiency compared to flexible bronchoscopy.

Previous studies that have shown successful awake intubation with video laryngoscopy in the predicted difficult airway have not included patients with head and neck pathology, including malignancies or a history of head and neck surgery or radiation. In this study, the study team will perform video laryngoscopy in patients with head and neck pathology who require awake bronchoscopic intubation for surgery after placement of the tracheal tube and induction of anesthesia. The study team hypothesize that it will be difficult to obtain a good view of the larynx with video laryngoscopy in some patients with head and neck pathology. If there is a significant incidence of difficult video laryngoscopy in this patient population, it will reinforce that anesthesiologists need to continue to learn and maintain skills in bronchoscopic intubation.