High frequency jet ventilation through the laryngeal mask airway in a critically obstructed airway.

SUMMARY: A 72 year-old man with an anticipated difficult airway secondary to a large, obstructing supraglottic tumour was scheduled for a panendoscopy. An elective pre-induction transtracheal catheter was placed to allow oxygenation if airway maintenance proved difficult. Following induction of anaesthesia, tracheal intubation was impossible and ventilation via both a facepiece and a laryngeal mask airway became progressively more difficult. An emergency tracheostomy was attempted whilst oxygenation was maintained with transtracheal jet ventilation, but the position of the transtracheal catheter made tracheostomy impossible. The catheter was removed and high frequency jet ventilation was then used via the laryngeal mask airway to maintain oxygenation. To our knowledge, the use of high frequency jet ventilation through the laryngeal mask airway in a critically obstructed airway has not been described before.