Using ketamine in a patient with a near-occlusion tracheal tumor undergoing tracheal resection and reconstruction: A case report

BACKGROUND: Tracheal tumors may cause airway obstruction and pose a significant risk to ventilation and oxygenation. Due to its rarity, there is currently no established protocol or guideline for anesthetic management of resection of upper tracheal tumors, therefore individualized strategies are necessary. There are limited number of reports regarding the anesthesthetic management of upper tracheal resection and reconstruction (TRR) in the literature. We successfully used intravenous ketamine to manage a patient with a near-occlusion upper tracheal tumor undergoing TRR. CASE SUMMARY: A 25-year-old female reported progressive dyspnea and hemoptysis. Bronchoscopy showed an intratracheal tumor located one tracheal ring below the glottis, which occluded > 90% of the tracheal lumen. The patient was scheduled for TRR. Considering the risk of complete airway collapse after the induction of general anesthesia, we decided to secure the airway with a tracheostomy with spontaneous breathing. The surgeons needed to transect the trachea 1-2 cartilage rings below and above the tumor borders: a time-consuming process. Coughing and movement needed be minimized; thus, we added intravenous ketamine to local anesthetic infiltration. After tracheostomy, an endotracheal tube was placed into the distal trachea, and general anesthesia was induced. The surgeons resected four cartilage rings with the tumor attached and anastomosed the posterior tracheal wall. We performed a video-laryngoscopy to place a new endotracheal tube. Finally, the surgeons anastomosed the anterior tracheal walls. The patient was extubated uneventfully. CONCLUSION: Ketamine showed great advantages in the anesthesia of upper TRR by providing analgesia with minimal respiratory depression or airway collapse.