Introduction: Acute epiglottitis or supraglottitis is a rapidly progressing upper respiratory tract infection that can often threaten the airway patency. Epiglottic abscess that expands to the paraglottic (PGS) or preepiglottic (PES) space and acute airway obstruction constitute rare complications, exclusively presented in adults.   Case Report: We report two cases. In t...

Introduction: Expiratory upper airway obstruction during bag-mask ventilation is not well characterized. Methods: An audit was done to assess expiratory obstruction in 90 adult surgical patients undergoing bag-mask ventilation during the induction of general anaesthesia. Results: Clinicians experienced difficulty delivering gas to the lungs when the head was neutral in 52 of 90 patients (58%; i...

Thoraco-abdominal asynchrony is frequently encountered during inhalation anaesthesia in children with adenotonsillar hypertrophy causing an upper airway obstruction. The study goal was to evaluate the impact of different airway opening manoeuvres on thoraco-abdominal asynchrony as a measure of airway obstruction. Thirty anaesthetized children (aged 2-8 yrs; sevoflurane 3% in 50% oxygen/nitrous ...

Congenital central hypoventilation syndrome (CCHS) is the failure of the autonomic system to control adequate ventilation while asleep with preserved ventilatory response while awake. We report a case of a patient with CCHS who presented with intrathoracic and extrathoracic airway obstruction after tracheostomy tube decannulation and phrenic nerve pacer placement. Nocturnal polysomnography (NPS...

This study addressed the question of whether there are any differences in the size and collapsibility of the upper airway measured by digital fluoroscopy, between snorers and controls whilst they were awake and breathing normally; and whether there are any correlations between these measurements and other clinical data. The dynamic changes of the upper airway size were evaluated using digital f...

When the syndrome consisting of sleep-induced apnea and hypersomnolence is due to upper airway obstruction, the hypersomnolence is believed to be the direct result of deprivation of sleep related to such obstructions. The purpose of this report is to describe a group of four asymptomatic subjects with upper airway obstruction during sleep. These subjects were matched with a group of patients wi...

Tracheotomy is one of the oldest surgical procedures, and it is a life-saving procedure to overcome upper airway obstructions. While congenital causes play an important role in pediatric tracheotomy indications, upper airway edema and obstruction due to anaphylaxis rarely require tracheotomy. Allergy can cause life-threatening acute edema by anaphylactic reactions in the respiratory tract. Henn...

Negative-pressure pulmonary edema accompanied by hemorrhage as a manifestation of upper airway obstruction is an uncommon problem that is potentially life-threatening. The principal pathophysiological mechanism involved is the generation of markedly negative intrathoracic pressure, which leads to an increase in pulmonary vascular volume and pulmonary capillary transmural pressure, creating a ri...

Maintenance of a patent airway is the most important aspect of the safe administration of anesthesia in children. However, in spontaneously breathing, anesthetized children, upper airway obstruction is a frequent problem (1) and failure to maintain a patent airway can rapidly result in hypoxemia, bradycardia or even cardiac arrest. Upper airway narrowing is most likely to appear in pharyngeal s...

Recent reports have suggested that flow volume curve abnormalities may be of interest in the diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnea syndromes by showing either extrathoracic airway obstruction (ratio of expiratory flow to inspiratory flow at 50 percent of forced vital capacity [FEF50/FIF50] exceeding 1) or upper airway fluttering (indicated by a sawtooth aspect on the mid-half of the inspiratory ...