Paediatric anaesthesia
-
Paediatric anaesthesia · Jan 2004
ReviewPrevention and management of complications of airway surgery in children.
Preventing and managing complications of airway surgery in children requires proactive attention to both surgical and anaesthetic aspects of the planned procedure. Preoperative evaluation should include a thorough physical examination and, especially in children with multiple congenital anomalies, flexible fibreoptic nasopharyngolaryngoscopy, direct laryngoscopy and rigid or flexible bronchoscopy. The goal is to identify dynamic abnormalities such as laryngomalacia or vocal cord paralysis, tracheal or bronchial lesions, gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GORD), aspiration, laryngotracheal stenosis, totally obstructing tracheostomy-associated granulation tissue and Noonan syndrome preoperatively, and then to plan surgical management to achieve the best possible outcome for each patient.