Airway Management In Patients With Traumatic Cervical Spine Injury For Emergency Surgery: A Case Series

Patients with traumatic cervical spine injuries who require surgical intervention pose a significant challenge to anaesthesiologists. Airway management inherently involves cervical spine movements that may aggravate pre-existing injury. There is currently no agreement on the technique for intubating these patients. We present three patients with cervical spine traumatic injuries and neurological symptoms posted for emergency cervical spine fixation surgery. All intubations were done by direct laryngoscopy with video laryngoscope and endotracheal tube then railroaded over Boogie with manual in-line Immobilization. We can conclude that the video laryngoscope assisted intubation has several advantages in the care of patients posted for emergency cervical spine fracture fixation.

Keywords: Trauma, cervical spine injury, emergency surgery, videolaryngoscope, difficult intubation.