Anesthetic management of vallecular cyst excision in an infant: An airway challenge

Vallecular cyst is uncommon but well-recognized cause of upper airway obstruction in newborn and infants. We hereby present anesthetic management of a case of vallecular cyst in an infant posted for excision and marsupialization. A 4-month-old female infant weighing 3.5 kg presented with inspiratory stridor progressively worsening over 2 months. Anesthesia plan was to carry out inhalational induction maintaining spontaneous respiration and keeping tracheostomy as standby option. In this case, laryngoscopy was challenging due to the size and extent of the cyst thus necessitating gentle laryngoscopy to prevent cyst rupture and pulmonary aspiration. On performing laryngoscopy, epiglottis was not visualized, which made intubation difficult. At the end of surgery, extubation was not carried out as the possibility of laryngomalacia could not be eliminated and also in view of intraoperative airway manipulation. The patient was electively ventilated postoperatively and extubated on the 2(nd) postoperative day.