title: Submental intubation with reinforced tube for intubating laryngeal mask airway.
abstract: Submental endotracheal intubation is a simple and secure alternative to either nasoendotracheal intubation or a tracheostomy in the airway management of maxillofacial trauma. However, a submental endotracheal intubation is quite difficult to manage if adverse events such as a tube obstruction, accidental extubation, or a leaking cuff with the endotracheal tube in the submental route occur, which could endanger the patient. This paper describes the use of a LMA-FastrachTMETT in the submental endotracheal intubation of patients suffering from maxillofacial trauma. One of the patients was a 16-year-old male, and the other was a 19-year-old male. They were scheduled for an open reduction and internal fixation of the maxillofacial fracture including naso-orbital-ethmoidal (NOE) complex, and a zygomaticomaxillary complex fracture. A submental intubation with a LMA-FastrachTMETT was performed in both cases, and the operation proceeded without any difficulties. These cases show that the use of the LMA- FastrachTMETT can improve the safety and efficacy of submental endotracheal intubation. This is because the LMA- FastrachTMETT has a freely detachable connector, and is flexible enough to keep the patency despite the acute angle of airway.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Yongdong Severance Hospital, Yonsei University College of Medicine, 146-92 Dogok-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul 135-720, Korea.
authors.forename: Ki Jun
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Jong Seok
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Hyung-Jun
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Ji-Young
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Ha
authors.forename: Hyun
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Dong Woo
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Han
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D006801:Humans; D007442:Intubation, Intratracheal / Q000295:instrumentation*; D017214:Laryngeal Masks; D008297:Male