Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2024 Nov;26(11):1410-1419.
doi: 10.1007/s11912-024-01597-4. Epub 2024 Sep 16.

The Difficult Airway in Patients with Cancer

Timothy V Feldheim  1 , John P Santiago  1 , Lauren Berkow  2
Affiliations
Review

The Difficult Airway in Patients with Cancer

Timothy V Feldheim et al. Curr Oncol Rep. 2024 Nov.

Abstract

Purpose of review: The goal of this review is to provide an overview of difficult airway management in the cancer population.

Recent findings: Difficult airways can be unanticipated; however, several anatomical and physiological features may predict difficult airway management, with several specific for the cancer patient population. New technologies and techniques for airway management, including non-invasive oxygenation, and even the utilization of ECMO, have led to better outcomes and decreased morbidity. Furthermore, the incorporation of multidisciplinary airway teams has helped reduce morbidity associated with predicted and known difficult airways. Cancer patients may exhibit or develop anatomic and physiologic features that may predispose them to difficulty with airway management. As our technologies for airway management continue to advance, as well as further commitment to more interdisciplinary collaboration, difficult airway management in the cancer population will continue to become safer.

Keywords: Airway management; Cancer; Difficult airway; Oncological patient.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Conflict of Interest: Dr Berkow: member Teleflex Medical Advisory Board, Masimo Scientific Advisory Board, Royalties from UpToDate, Section Editor for Airway Management, Current Anesthesiology Reports, Past President, Society For Airway Management. Dr Feldheim: no conflicts of interest. Dr Santiago: member, NOVA Southeastern University Clinical Practice Advisory Board. Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent: This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

References

    1. Mosier J, Joshi R, Hypes C, Pacheco G, Valenzuela T, Sakles J. The physiologically difficult airway. West J Emerg Med. 2015;16(7):1109–17. - PubMed - PMC - DOI
    1. Ahmed A, Azim A. Difficult tracheal intubation in critically ill. J Intensive Care. 2018;6(1):49. - PubMed - PMC - DOI
    1. Apfelbaum JL, Hagberg CA, Connis RT, Abdelmalak BB, Agarkar M, Dutton RP, Fiadjoe JE, Robert Greif P, Klock A, Mercier D, Myatra SN, O’Sullivan EP, Rosenblatt WH, Sorbello M, Tung A. American society of anesthesiologists practice guidelines for management of the difficult airway. Anesthesiology. 2022;2022(136):31–81. - DOI
    1. Edelman DA, Perkins EJ, Brewster DJ. Difficult airway management algorithms: a directed review. Anaesthesia. 2019;74(9):1175–85. - PubMed - DOI
    1. Jung H. A comprehensive review of difficult airway management strategies for patient safety. Anesth Pain Med [Internet]. 2023;18(4):331–9. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10635845/ .

LinkOut - more resources