A case is presented of a woman who sustained a 35% body surface area mixed
depth cutaneous burn, together with a significant inhalational injury. The
patient required emergency resuscitation with endotracheal intubation and s
ubsequently tracheostomy. This resulted in an unfortunate complication of a
total adhesion between the vocal cords which extended into the subglottic
area, causing complete occlusion of the airway. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science L
td and ISBI. All rights reserved.