High-flow nasal cannula application in an infant patient with laryngomalacia during general anesthesia: A case report

Laryngomalacia is defined as the collapse of supraglottic structures and can cause not only strider but also trigger difficulties with ventilation and endotracheal intubation during anesthesia management. High-flow nasal cannula (HFNC) has been used to manage patients at high risk of hypoxemia in the intensive care unit; however, limited literature information is available for the application of HFNC to infant patients with laryngomalacia during anesthesia practice.

A 2-month-old male infant was scheduled to undergo surgery for inguinal hernia and undescended testis with general anesthesia.

The patient had subcostal retraction while breathing and frequent oxygen desaturation events and was diagnosed laryngomalacia.

After the patient was supplied oxygen via HFNC and then given general anesthesia, the initial 2 attempts of endotracheal intubation with a rigid laryngoscope were unsuccessful because the vocal cords were obscured by the epiglottis. A third intubation attempt was performed and successful with a 3.0-sized, uncuffed endotracheal tube within 20 minutes of the initial attempt.

No airway complications emerged and oxygen saturation remained at greater than 98% during general anesthesia. The patient was discharged 5 days after surgery without any adverse side effects.

Continuous oxygenation via HFNC is a good choice to prevent desaturation during difficult tracheal intubations in infant patients with laryngomalacia. This device is expected to be useful for intubation not only in patients with laryngomalacia, but also in infant patients with a predicted high risk of oxygen desaturation events during general anesthesia.