Anesthesia for penetrating injury of the oropharynx in a child: a case report

BACKGROUND: Penetrating injury of the oropharynx occurs frequently in children, however, anesthetic management is seldom described in such cases. CASE PRESENTATION: A 2-year old child came to the emergency room with a toothbrush impacted in the gingivobuccal sulcus making airway management difficult. We used a simple yet unique approach to secure the airway safely given the lack of pediatric size fibreoptic and videolaryngoscopes in our emergency operation theatre. The patient was kept in Pediatric ICU and watched for any complications and discharged on the 4th postoperative day. CONCLUSIONS: Thus, ingenious non-invasive techniques to secure the airway can prevent the patient from undergoing surgical tracheostomy.