The use of ultrasonography in acute and critical care medicine is becoming increasingly common. However, use of an airway ultrasound as an adjunct to determine the type of intervention needed and assess complications is not common practice. We report a 56-year-old male who presented to the Emergency Department of the Sungai Buloh Hospital, Selangor, Malaysia, in 2015 with hoarseness, stridor and impending respiratory failure. A point-of-care ultrasound performed to assess the neck and vocal cords indicated a heterogeneous echogenic mass in the larynx, thus ruling out a cricothyroidotomy. The patient was therefore referred for an emergency tracheostomy. This case highlights the importance of point-of-care airway ultrasonography in the assessment of patients with stridor. This imaging technique not only helps to detect the cause of the stridor, but also to determine the feasibility of a cricothyroidotomy in emergency cases.
Treating children with cyanotic congenital heart disease poses many challenges to anesthesiologists because of the multiple problems associated with the condition. The anesthetic technique and drugs used perioperatively can affect a patient's physiologic status during surgery. The adherence to certain hemodynamic objectives and the avoidance of factors that could worsen the abnormal cardiopulmonary physiology cannot be overemphasized. In the present case series, we describe the use of a dexmedetomidine-ketamine combination for dental extraction in spontaneously breathing children with cyanotic congenital heart disease. The anesthetic concerns regarding airway management, the pharmacologic effects of drugs, and maintenance of adequate hemodynamic, blood gases, and acid-base status are discussed.