[Airway difficulty associated with multiple teratisms of the oral cavity in a newborn infant].

A 13-day-old infant with multiple teratisms of the oral cavity was scheduled for resection of the epignathus. Her oral cavity was occupied by large epignathus, submandibular tumor, congenital bifid tongue and cleft palate, but she had no other congenital abnormalities. We anticipated that an endotracheal intubation would be difficult because of the large size of the tumor in relation to the oral cavity. Initially, awake intubation using a standard laryngoscope was attempted. Although a large elastic epignathus did not interrupt the insertion of the curved laryngoscope blade, the hard submandibular tumors protruded from the submaxillary ramport interfered with mid-line management of the laryngoscope. After several attempts of intubation, a better exposure was obtained and she was successfully intubated using a stylet under deep sedation. We recognized that a careful observation of anatomical abnormalities in the oral cavity is important to keep airway in an infant with multiple abnormalities of the oral cavity.