Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-2lccl Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-27T21:52:21.008Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Case 53 - Cervicalspine limitations

from Section I - Neuroanesthesia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 May 2011

George A. Mashour
Affiliation:
University of Michigan
Ehab Farag
Affiliation:
Cleveland Clinic
Get access

Summary

Cervical spine mobility is central to the conventional safe management of the airway. Acquired causes are mainly degenerative diseases (osteoarthritis, degenerative disc disease), inflammatory processes (rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis), trauma, and prior surgical fusion. This chapter presents a case study of a 68-year-old male with severe ankylosing spondylitis who sustained a fracture through the C6 vertebral body following a fall. The patient was positioned in the prone position with care taken to avoid cervical spine extension and to preserve the alignment of the cervico-thoracic spine, to the extent that was possible given the underlying deformity. The blood pressure was maintained at preinduction values at all times. The patient presented in this case demonstrated several of the features that predict difficulty in airway management. Awake flexible fiberoptic intubation is considered to be the gold standard in this challenging patient group.
Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×