Acromegaly and papillomatosis: difficult intubation and use of the airway exchange catheter

We describe the anaesthetic management of a patient with acromegaly scheduled for transsphenoidal resection of a pituitary tumour who was found at intubation to have coexisting laryngeal papillomatosis. Oral intubation was impossible using both direct and fibreoptic techniques. Nasal fibreoptic intubation was successful but precluded the transsphenoidal approach to surgery. A Cook Airway Exchange Catheter [Cook (UK) Ltd, Monroe House, Letchworth SG6 1LN] was used with a Negus bronchoscope to convert to oral intubation and allow completion of surgery without resort to tracheostomy.