Pharyngeal pouch as a cause of difficult intubation.
The presence of a lateral pharyngeal pouch may cause difficulty in recognising the glottis when awake intubation is undertaken. This is mainly because the orifice may open and close during phonation and therefore be mistaken for the glottis. A case is described and some aspects of relevance to the anaesthetist are discussed.
D003243:Consciousness; D004240:Diverticulum / Q000150:complications*; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007442:Intubation, Intratracheal; D010608:Pharyngeal Diseases / Q000150:complications*