Lightwand: a useful aid in faciomaxillary trauma

Airway management in patients of faciomaxillary injury is of great concern to the anesthesiologist. Bag and mask ventilation and orotracheal intubation may be difficult with these patients. Recently, a middle aged, obese female presented in the emergency department after sustaining a blast injury, with laceration of the upper chest and left submandibular region. Laceration of the submandibular region was communicating with the intraoral space and the airway was filled with blood. The airway was secured with nasotracheal intubation aided by a lightwand, after failure with the Macintosh laryngoscope. This case report highlights the importance of the lightwand in intubating a patient with a bleeding airway and when the bright light glow of the lightwand gives sufficient direction toward the glottis for successful tracheal intubation.