Radiation therapy (RT) for head and neck cancer, which has made remarkable progress in recent years, is one of the main treatment modalities because it can preserve organ function and morphology after treatment. However, while RT is widely used, complications have been reported, especially laryngeal edema, which can be an airway management problem during general anesthesia. Of the 3 cases of RT-induced laryngeal edema presented here, the first developed 4 days post-RT, the second manifested signs and symptoms associated with laryngeal edema after RT performed 4 years and 4 months previously, and the third exhibited severe laryngeal edema over a decade post-RT despite the absence of clinical signs and symptoms.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis is a case report of an 81-year-old woman who underwent tracheostomy, bilateral cervical dissection, partial tongue resection, radial forearm free flap reconstruction, and split-thickness skin grafting under general anesthesia. After successful surgery, she was moderately sedated postoperatively with intravenous dexmedetomidine (DEX) and fentanyl. The fentanyl was discontinued 5 hours postoperatively.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF