Awake Upper Airway Surgery

• Published in: The Annals of thoracic surgery Vol. 89; no. 2; pp. 387 - 391
• Main Authors: Macchiarini, Paolo, MD, PhD, Rovira, Irene, MD, PhD, Ferrarello, Sante, MD
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier Inc 01.02.2010
• Subjects: Adult; Aerosols; Analgesics, Opioid; Anastomosis, Surgical; Anesthesia, Epidural; Anesthetics, Local; Cardiothoracic Surgery; Conscious Sedation; Early Ambulation; Feasibility Studies; Female; Follow-Up Studies; High-Frequency Jet Ventilation; Humans; Intubation, Intratracheal; Larynx - surgery; Length of Stay; Lidocaine; Male; Middle Aged; Patient Satisfaction; Piperidines; Postoperative Complications - etiology; Prospective Studies; Surgery; Trachea - surgery; Tracheal Stenosis - surgery; 15
• ISSN: 0003-4975; 1552-6259
• DOI: 10.1016/j.athoracsur.2009.10.044

Background The need to compromise between surgical and anesthetic access in airway surgery is an important clinical problem. We wanted to determine the feasibility of performing upper airway surgery under awake anesthesia and spontaneous respiration. Methods This was a prospective, clinical feasibility study. Patients with upper tracheal stenosis were managed through cervical epidural anesthesia and conscious sedation, and atomized local anesthetic. No intraoperative intubation or jet ventilation was required. Outcome measures were ease of surgery, observer-rated functional result, early (less than 30 days) complications, and patient-reported satisfaction. Results Twenty consecutive patients with idiopathic (n = 4) or postintubation (n = 16) complete (n = 3) or severe (>80%, n = 17) subglottic (n = 12) or upper trachea (n = 8) stenosis were enrolled. Operations included 12 subglottic and 8 segmental resections with primary anastomosis. Permissive hypercapnia was well tolerated. Median length of resection was 4.5 cm (range, 2 to 6 cm), and 12 releases (8 thyrohyoid, 4 suprahyoid) were required. One patient required a nasotracheal tube for 36 hours. All but 1 were able to cough and talk immediately, and to swallow fluids and solids, and were fully mobilized at 6 hours. There were no early complications. Median hospitalization was 3.1 days (range, 2 to 15). Patients had excellent (n = 16) or good (n = 4) functional (n = 20) outcomes, with no early relapse of stenosis. Median self-reported satisfaction at median 12 months was 9.5 ± 1.0 (scale, 0 to 10). All patients indicated that they would be happy to repeat the procedure. Conclusions Awake and tubeless upper airway surgery is feasible and safe, and has a high level of patient satisfaction. If supported by randomized controlled trial, this method will change the way airway stenosis surgery is approached by both surgeons and anesthesiologist.