Using the SuperNO2VA Device on a Patient With a Known Difficult Airway: A Case Report Facilitating Fiberoptic Intubation and Postoperative Nasal Positive Pressure

Abstract

Upper airway obstruction during anesthesia is the leading cause of complications during sedation, intubation, and emergence. Devices to support oxygenation and ventilation are costly, require capital equipment, and cannot be used during transport. We present a 46-year-old man with sleep apnea and anticipated difficult airway undergoing a cardiac ablation under general endotracheal intubation. The SuperNO2VA nasal mask provided high-flow nasal oxygen and positive pressure during awake fiberoptic intubation and on extubation, maintaining airway patency in the operating room, during transport, and in recovery. The SuperNO2VA is inexpensive and portable and should be considered for high-risk patients with difficult airways.

The use of a noninvasive positive pressure system to facilitate tracheal intubation in a difficult pediatric airway: a case report

“… 3 It allows access to the mouth and has been used during endoscopic, transesophageal echocardiography, and bronchoscopic procedures. Although it can also be used to facilitate fiberoptic intubation, 4 there are no reports of its use during inhalational induction or pediatric difficult airway management. At the time of this writing, the existing SuperNO 2 VA Mask... literature is derived exclusively from adults and a search of the published literature produced no citation regarding its use in the pediatric population.…”