title: Airway management in a toddler with a giant hemangioma of the tongue.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Induction of general anesthesia in a patient with compromised airway has always caused dilemma to anesthesiologist, especially for toddler this is paramounted.
  
  
  METHODS
  An 18 month old boy had a huge sized lingual mass which not only filled entire oral cavity but protruded outside the mouth up to about 5 cm. Having in mind the diagnosis of hemangioma, prior to induction it was attempted to reduce the mass but could be reduced only minimally by manual decompression. While the tongue, still outside the mouth, with full preparedness for anesthesia was induced maintaining the spontaneous ventilation. During laryngoscopy and intubation the tongue was pulled out of the oral cavity to ease the passage of the endotracheal tube. The mass was excised successfully and patient had an uneventful postoperative course.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Maintenance of spontaneous ventilation is the crucial safety element during induction.
authors: Department of Anesthesiology, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors: Asghar
authors: A
authors: Hajipour
authors: Mihan J
authors: MJ
authors: Javid
authors: Babak
authors: B
authors: Saedi
keywords: Hemangioma; Tongue; Vascular malformation