[Difficult airway management for general anesthesia in two patients with Kartagener syndrome]

Two patients with Kartagener syndrome were managed under general anesthesia by nasal intubation for sagital split ramus osteotomy. Many episodes of expectoration were encountered in the former patient's perioperative period and the expectoration discharge was inadequate by postoperative nausea, leading to trouble in airway management. In the second patient, tube collapse was caused after intubation by serious nasal cavity strangulation, and re-intubation was necessary. Expectoration is seen resulting from decreased ciliary function with bronchiectasis during anesthetic management of patients with Kartagener syndrome. It is important to prevent lung complications by nausea prevention and pain killing in the postoperative period, in addition to proper suctioning in the perioperative period. Furthermore, there is nasal cavity narrowing by chronic sinusitis. When performing nasal intubation, the difficult airway management is required.