Nasal intubation and previous cleft palate repair

Airway management in pediatric tongue flap division for oronasal fistula closure: A case report

Oronasal fistulae (ONF) could remain after surgery in some patients with cleft palate. ONF ultimately requires intraoral surgery, which may lead to perioperative airway obstruction. Tongue flap surgery is a technique used to repair ONF. During the second surgery for performing tongue flap division, the flap transplanted from the tongue dorsum to the palate of the patient acts as an obstacle to airway management, which poses a great challenge for anesthesiologists. In particular, anesthesiologists may face difficulty in airway evaluation and patient cooperation during general anesthesia for tongue flap division surgery in pediatric patients. The authors report a case of airway management using a flexible fiberoptic bronchoscope during general anesthesia for tongue flap division surgery in a 6-year-old child.

Remifentanil for sedation and analgesia during awake division of tongue flap in children: a report of two cases

Background

The tongue flap is an accepted treatment method for cleft palate repair. Orotracheal or nasotracheal intubation using a fiberoptic scope is preferred for the division of the tongue flap. We report two cases of tongue flap division in which the patients received adequate sedation and analgesia without tracheal intubation.

Case presentation

Twelve- and 13-year-old male patients were treated at our hospital for tongue flap division, performed as part of a cleft palate repair. We planned to divide the tongue flap under sedation with remifentanil (1 μg/kg/min continuous infusion) and local anesthesia, followed by induction of general anesthesia, and orotracheal intubation after the tongue flap was divided. During the procedure, patients were breathing spontaneously and were cooperative. Patients were able to follow the surgeons' verbal cues to thrust out the tongue during the procedure, so that the surgeons could easily insert the sutures.

Conclusions

During the division of the tongue flap in two children, excellent sedative and analgesic effects were achieved using continuous remifentanil infusion.