Failed nasal intubation after successful flexible bronchoscopy: Guide wire to the rescue

Flexible fiberoptic bronchoscope-guided awake intubation is the most trusted technique for managing an anticipated difficult airway. Even after successfully negotiating the bronchoscope into the trachea, the possibility remains that the preloaded tracheal tube might prove to be inappropriately large, and may not negotiate the nasal structures. In such a situation, the most obvious solution is to take out the bronchoscope, replace the tracheal tube with a smaller one, and repeat the procedure. Unfortunately, sometimes the second attempt is not as easy as the first, as minor trauma during the earlier attempt causes tissue edema and bleeding, which makes the subsequent bronchoscopic view hazy and difficult. We present the anesthetic management of five cases with temporomandibular joint ankylosis where, after successful, though slightly traumatic, bronchoscope insertion into the trachea, the tube could not be threaded in. We avoided a repeat bronchoscopy by making an innovative change in the plan.