Airway obstruction due to massive lingual oedema following cleft palate surgery

The Pierre Robin syndrome consists of micrognathia, pseudo-macroglossia, glossoptosis and a high arched or cleft palate. Difficult intubation of the trachea and associated abnormalities such as congenital heart disease are well known complications of this syndrome. Intraoral surgery (such as cleft palate repair and palatoplasty) can also be technically difficult for the surgeon resulting in prolonged retraction on the tongue with a mouth gag to provide adequate surgical exposure. We report a case where massive lingual oedema following a cleft palate repair resulted in life-threatening airway obstruction.