Anesthesia management for a case of laryngeal keel placement

Congenital laryngeal web is a rare anomaly with incidence of 1 in 10,000 births. Its clinical presentation may range from an asymptomatic patient or mild hoarseness of voice to severe respiratory stridor. The primary goals of surgical intervention for congenital laryngeal web are to establish a patent airway and to achieve a good voice quality. As recurrence rate after plain excision of laryngeal web is very high, its removal may be coupled by placement of a silastic keel in between vocal cords. Endolaryngeal placement of a keel is definitely less invasive than laryngofissure, but little is known about its anesthesia management. Frequent ventilatory adjustment and endotracheal tube (ETT) manipulations are needed along with vigilant monitoring. Risk of perforation or accidental dislodgment of the ETT and laryngeal edema are other concerns in management. We report a case.