Airway management and anesthesia for airway surgery: a narrative review.

Objective: To discuss and summarize the literature for airway and anesthetic management tools the anesthesiologist can use for airway surgery to both successfully manage the patient's physiological needs and provide the surgeon the optimal surgical conditions with which to perform the surgery safely.

Background: The airway and anesthetic management of patients presenting for thoracic surgery poses the anesthesiologist with a unique set of challenges, but also a unique set of opportunities to artfully utilize and adapt a variety of management options that has developed over several decades of innovation. Sixty years ago, airway surgery was initially performed with the patient spontaneously breathing and providing anesthesia with halogenated agents and airway topicalization.