[Anesthetic management using extracorporeal circulation of a patient with severe tracheal stenosis by thyroid cancer]

A 64-year-old male with tracheal stenosis by thyroid cancer was scheduled for the emergency management of airway maintenance and total thyroidectomy. Dyspnea and orthopnea appeared suddenly on the admission for operation. Cervical CT and bronchial fiberscope examination revealed the trachea oppressed at the frontal neck by thyroid tumor. The trachea diameter was nearly 5 mm at the narrowest part. Therefore it seemed to be of high risk of perform tracheal intubation and tracheostomy. Extracorporeal circulation was adopted for the respiratory management at anesthesia induction. At first, the femoral artery and vein were cannulated with local anesthesia for cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). After confirming CPB pump working, intravenous anesthetic agents were infused. Thyroid tumor was partially resected and tracheostomy was done under CPB. After the tracheostomy, a spiral tracheal tube was inserted. Anesthesia was maintained with sevoflurane and managed with controlled ventilation. Thereafter operation and anesthesia were uneventful. After the operation, pleural bloody effusion was noticed. Blood in effusion seemed to be due to the heparinization in extracorporeal circulation. We conclude that anesthetic management with extracorporeal circulation is one of useful methods for managing severe tracheal stenosis.