ANESTHESIA FOR LASER PHARYNGOPLASTY - A COMPARISON OF THE TRACHEAL TUBE WITH THE REINFORCED LARYNGEAL MASK AIRWAY

A common cause of snoring is palatal flutter which occurs when turbule nt airflow causes the flexible soft palate to flutter. Surgical correc tion involves either removal of the soft palate or a reduction in its flexibility. Laser pharyngoplasty is a new surgical procedure designed to stiffen the soft palate. It presents a unique combination of probl ems for the anaesthetist. In this paper we describe the evolution of t he anaesthetic technique for laser pharyngoplasty and analyse the resu lts of the first 165 cases. Points of particular interest include the use of the reinforced laryngeal mask airway compared with the tracheal tube and late onset pain.