ABSTRACT

Dynamic airway obstruction is a terrifying situation. Most of the time, the obstruction is intermittent. The situation becomes horrifying and panicky when this intermittent dynamic airway obstruction turns into a total laryngeal obstruction under anaesthesia. Herein, we present a case of a 56-year-old male with vocal cord polyp, who was posted for excision. The difficult airway was anticipated in view of a thick neck. He was also hypertensive and a suggestive case of obstructive sleep apnoea. The patient went to the cannot ventilate, cannot intubate, cannot oxygenate situation because of the polyp taking position between the vocal cords and completely obstructing the central airway gateway. The case was successfully managed by emergency cricothyroidotomy by following the Vortex approach but taught us a few lessons. The case shows us the relevance of clinical findings and the importance of vocal polyp as a cause of inducible laryngeal obstruction and highlights the consequences of intuition and minor lacuna in airway management.

Keywords: Airway management, cricoid cartilage, hypoxia, intubation, larynx, polyps