Awake fiberoptic nasotracheal intubation for patients with difficult airway

Awake fiberoptic nasotracheal intubation is a useful technique, especially in patients with airway obstruction. It must not only provide sufficient anesthesia, but also maintain spontaneous breathing. We introduce a method to achieve this using a small dose of fentanyl and midazolam in combination with topical anesthesia. The cases of 2 patients (1 male, 1 female) who underwent oral maxillofacial surgery are reported. They received 50 µg of fentanyl 2-3 times (total 2.2-2.3 µg/kg) at intervals of approximately 2 min. Oxygen was administered via a mask at 6 L/min, and 0.5 mg of midazolam was administered 1-4 times (total 0.02-0.05 mg/kg) at intervals of approximately 2 min. A tracheal tube was inserted through the nasal cavity after topical anesthesia was applied to the epiglottis, vocal cords, and into the trachea through the fiberscope channel. All patients were successfully intubated. This is a useful and safe method for awake fiberoptic nasotracheal intubation.