title: Perioperative acute upper airway obstruction secondary to severe rheumatoid arthritis.
abstract: Although airway obstruction secondary to cricoarytenoid arthritis is an infrequent perioperative complication of rheumatoid arthritis, it must be promptly recognized and appropriately managed to avoid fatal consequences. We report a case of cricoarytenoid dysfunction leading to acute respiratory insufficiency requiring tracheostomy in the immediate postoperative period after total knee arthroplasty in a patient with severe rheumatoid arthritis.
authors.affiliation: Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, USA.
authors.forename: P Bradley
authors.initials: PB
authors.lastname: Segebarth
authors.forename: Thomas J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Limbird
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000368:Aged; D000402:Airway Obstruction / Q000209:etiology*; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000150:complications*; D019645:Arthroplasty, Replacement, Knee; D001193:Arytenoid Cartilage; D003413:Cricoid Cartilage; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D014139:Tracheostomy