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. 2013 Apr;3(2):89-95.

Cannot intubate - cannot ventilate in a neonate due to giant sublingual CYST: a simple approach to airway management

Es Isamade, Ct Soo, Me Efu

Cannot intubate - cannot ventilate in a neonate due to giant sublingual CYST: a simple approach to airway management

Es Isamade et al. J West Afr Coll Surg. 2013 Apr.

Abstract

Congenital sublingual/lingual cysts are rare, and may present with feeding difficulty; and rarely with respiratory distress in the neonate. A seven days old male neonate weighing 2.6kg was referred to a teaching hospital in Nigeria with a swelling in the oral cavity noticed at birth; associated with symptoms of inability to breastfeed, close the mouth and partial airway obstruction. Complete airway obstruction occurred, with cannot intubate- cannot ventilate situation during inhalational anaesthesia for surgical treatment, which was successfully managed. We report the case to highlight the simple but life saving approach of needle aspiration in airway management for a cannot intubate- cannot ventilate situation due to a giant neonatal sublingual cyst.

Keywords: airway obstruction; management; needle aspiration; neonate; sublingual cyst.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1:
Fig 1:
Showing giant sublingual cyst in the neonate
Fig 2:
Fig 2:
Baby successfully intubated after cyst aspiration
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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