Continuous intravenous anaesthesia with Althesin for resection of tracheal stenosis

The anaesthetic management of patients undergoing tracheal resection for tracheal stenosis and the advantage of the maintenance of spontaneous respiration without intubation of the distal tracheal segment is discussed. The case reports of two such patients using a continuous intravenous infusion of Althesin with maintenance of spontaneous respiration are presented. The technique expedited the surgical reanastomosis due to lack of instrumentation in the surgical field. While some mild respiratory depression as evidenced by carbon dioxide retention did occur, the technique is worthy of consideration for the procedure.