Background
Tracheobronchial stenting is a type of interventional respiratory
therapy. In anesthesia management for rigid bronchoscopy, it is
necessary to maintain an appropriate depth of anesthesia while
maintaining spontaneous breathing. The usefulness of superior laryngeal
nerve block (SLNB) in awake intubation is well known [1]. Recently,
the usefulness of SLNB in airway stent insertion has been recognized,
but there are few reports of ultrasound-guided SLNB. In a previous
report, the combination of SLNB and total intravenous anesthesia (TIVA)
reduced the respiratory depression associated with the use of propofol
and fentanyl in anesthesia for rigid bronchoscopy [2].
Ultrasound-guided SLNB may be useful for reducing the dose of
intravenous anesthetics, by reducing airway reflexes. We here report a
case of a patient with airway stenosis caused by lung cancer, who
underwent tracheal stent placement under rigid bronchoscopy. TIVA
combined with ultrasound-guided SLNB enabled safe anesthetic management
without any adverse events. We obtained written informed consent from
the patient to publish this case report.