A CAUSE OF TRACHEAL INTUBATION FAILURE - A SUBGLOTTIC WEB

We report the case of a patient with a history of facio-thoracic burns , the treatment of which included prolonged intubation, whose trachea could not be intubated because of a subglottic obstacle. The ventilati on was easily controlled with a laryngeal mask. At the end of surgery for postburn cheloids, laryngoscopy through the laryngeal mask showed a transversal subglottic laryngeal band, a probable sequela of the pre vious prolonged intubation. The band was resected one week later. The conventional indicators for difficult intubation cannot detect the lar yngotracheal obstacles to tracheal tube insertion. (C) 1998 Elsevier, Paris.