In neck-immobilized patients using semi-rigid cervical collars, AWS improves laryngeal exposure and facilitates tracheal intubation. AWS may be a suitable intubation device for trauma patients.

When compared with cervical collar immobilization, AWS laryngoscopy along with MIS seems to be a safer and more definite method to secure airway of neck-injured trauma patients because it limits less mouth opening and upper cervical spine movement.

The AWS(®) has an advantage over the Macintosh laryngoscope in simulated tongue edema and tongue edema with pharyngeal obstruction. Further studies in a clinical setting are necessary to confirm these findings.

We experienced a case of a huge hemangioma occupying the oropharyngeal space in an 11-year-old child. Although urgent surgical tracheostomy under local anesthesia was suggested initially, medical interview and findings of computerized tomography and fiberoptic laryngoscopy revealed that the airway of the patient was relatively stable when she was in the semi-left decubitus position. General anesthetic induction would have had potential risks of airway obstruction. Thus, after placing the patient in the semi-left decubutus position, we chose semi-awake induction to secure the airway. With a small dose of fentanyl, we accomplished orotracheal intubation. In this report, we discuss the importance of referring to an airway management algorithm when encountering a difficult airway.

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