title: Contracture related airway obstruction (CRAO) treated successfully with incisional release.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To describe the delayed airway obstruction that can result from anterior cervical burns and report a case of successful decannulation following incisional release and full-thickness skin grafting (FTSG).
  
  
  METHODS
  Case report from a tertiary care academic children's hospital.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Direct laryngoscopy demonstrates a significant improvement in the upper airway immediately following an anterior cervical incisional release. The patient was then able to be decannulated on postoperative day 10.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Cervical contracture is an important consideration in children with airway obstruction following burns to the upper chest, anterior neck and face, and may be treated successfully with incisional release and FTSG.
authors.affiliation: Division of Pediatric Otolaryngology, Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7070, USA. austin_rose@med.unc.edu
authors.forename: Austin S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Rose
authors.forename: Mitchell R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Gore
authors.forename: C Scott
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Hultman
authors.forename: Bruce A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Cairns
mesh_terms: D000061:Accidents, Home; D000402:Airway Obstruction / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D001999:Bronchoscopy / Q000379:methods; D002059:Burns, Inhalation / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis; D003286:Contracture / Q000150:complications / Q000601:surgery*; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006085:Graft Survival; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D015601:Injury Severity Score; D007828:Laryngoscopy / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D016038:Skin Transplantation / Q000379:methods*; D014140:Tracheotomy / Q000379:methods; D016896:Treatment Outcome