Airway fire during awake tracheostomy using high-flow nasal oxygen

High-flow nasal oxygen is increasingly used in complex head and neck surgical procedures and difficult airway management. We describe a case where an operating room fire occurred while using high-flow nasal oxygen during an awake tracheostomy for an obese patient in airway extremis due to supraglottitis. Shortly after the operation began, and before incision of the trachea, electrical diathermy applied to bleeding sub-cutaneous vessels ignited a small flame. This was extinguished without harm to the patient and the procedure was completed without further complication. Fire requires three components: fuel; heat; and an oxidiser. We speculate that high-flow oxygen channelled under the drapes and acted as the oxidiser; either tissue eschar or vapourised fat were the fuel; and the diathermy supplied a source of ignition to complete the fire triad. When using high flows of concentrated oxygen, practitioners should aim to minimise all of these factors and be alert for the risk of fire at every stage of the operation.