[Inflation of the endotracheal tube cuff as an aid for blind nasotracheal intubation in patients with predicted difficult laryngoscopy].

HYPOTHESIS AND OBJECTIVES

Inflation of the tracheal tube cuff to facilitate blind nasal intubation as described by Gobarck in 1987 has been shown to be effective for increasing the rate of successful intubation from 45 to 95% in patients with no airway alterations. We aimed to assess the usefulness of this technique in patients with anatomical alterations of the airway, in whom difficult intubation was predicted.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

We enrolled 25 patients with airway alterations that made laryngoscopy likely to be difficult and who were scheduled for neoplastic maxillofacial surgery.

RESULTS

Twelve patients (48%) were intubated on the first try, 5 (20%) on the second try and 6 (24%) on the third try. We were unable to intubate 2 patients (8%) after three tries, and therefore opted to intubate with a fiberoptic endoscope.

CONCLUSIONS

Inflation of the tracheal tube cuff is useful for facilitating nasotracheal intubation in the awake patient.