ProSeal laryngeal mask airway for cardiac surgery after airway rescue.

We present the case of the successful use of a ProSeal laryngeal mask airway in a severe obese 41-year-old women with a difficult airway, scheduled to undergo cardiac surgery (off-pump coronary artery bypass). Two intubation attempts failed and face mask ventilation became impossible with rapidly falling peripheral oxygen saturation. A ProSeal laryngeal airway was railroaded over a tracheal tube guide, a gastric tube was inserted along the drain tube and the patient underwent positive pressure ventilation, resulting in normal gas exchange and an oropharyngeal leak pressure > 40 cm H2O. The decision was taken to proceed with the ProSeal as the airway during the surgical intervention. Surgery was uneventful and the ProSeal was removed on the ICU three hours later. This case reports illustrates the successful use of a guided insertion of the ProSeal laryngeal mask for airway rescue in cardiac surgery.