Translaryngeal Anesthesia and Deep Sedation for Dilation of Tracheal Stenosis with Rigid Bronchoscope in a Burn Patient.

Tracheal stenosis may follow a period of tracheal intubation. Postintubation tracheal stenosis is caused by either cuff-induced ischemic damage, injury after formation of a tracheostomy, or a combination of the two. Management may require tracheal dilation via rigid bronchoscopy. This can either be performed under general anesthesia using neuromuscular blocking drugs or under deep sedation using regional blocks. We describe a case of tracheal stenosis in a patient who had sustained extensive burns 4 months previously. Because of resource limitations in our healthcare setting, we successfully dilated her tracheal stenosis under deep sedation and translaryngeal anesthesia, avoiding general anesthesia and neuromuscular blocking agents.