• Hiroto Ohata, Yuko Iida, Kazuhiro Kito, Michika Kawamura, Mika Yamashita, Shuichiro Ohta, Norio Ueda, and Hiroki Iida.
• Department of Anesthesiology, Gifu Municipal Hospital, Gifu 500-8513.
• Masui. 2013 Jun 1;62(6):674-7.

AbstractWe report a case of intraoperative kinking of an endotracheal tube (ETT) in a prone patient during spine surgery. We postulate that one of the risk factors involved with kinking was the inadequate withdrawal maneuver of Pentax-AWS Airway Scope (AWS). Patient was a 69-year-old woman with hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and rheumatoid arthritis, undergoing C4-6 laminoplasty under general anesthesia in the prone position. A 7.0-mm polyvinyl endotracheal tube (Paker Flex-Tip Tube) was placed to 21 cm at the right angle of the mouse without difficulty using the AWS. Both peak inspiratory pressure (PIP) and partial pressure of end-tidal carbon dioxide began to rise gradually from 24 to 28 cmH2O and 38 to 44 mmHg, respectively. Although over 30 cmH2O in PIP repeatedly appeared after that, we did not find any remarkable change of ventilation except for weak breath sound. Thereafter, when we checked the tube with a flexible fiberoptic bronchoscope, it could not pass through the tube. At first, we asked the surgeon to release neck flexion as much as possible. This procedure could not correct the kink completely but allowed the passage of bronchoscope in the ETT. Then, we tried to reposition the ETT by inserting the bronchoscope beyond the point of kinking for maintaining luminal patency and adequate ventilation. The subsequent anesthetic course was uneventful. Kinking of the ETT in the oral cavity is an uncommon problem but we must keep in mind as one of the differential diagnoses. When using the AWS for endotracheal intubation, we recommend the confirmation of the position of the ETT to be normal in the oral cavity by direct laryngoscopy.

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