Usability of AirWay Scope for awake tracheal intubation in a burn patient with difficult airway

The AirWay Scope (AWS; PENTAX Corporation, Tokyo, Japan) is a newly developed rigid video laryngoscope with a built-in LCD monitor that provides accurate verification of tube passage through the vocal cords during tracheal intubation procedures. The blade is shaped to fit the oropharyngeal anatomy, which enables operators to achieve an optimal view for tracheal intubation without requiring alignment of the oral, pharyngeal, and laryngeal axes. We used an AWS for awake intubation in a 34-year-old male burn patient with a difficult airway under conscious sedation obtained with infusion of dexmedetomidine (DEX). Following topical anesthesia of the upper airway and preoxygenation, sedation was induced with 6 microg kg(-1) hr(-1) of DEX for 13 minutes and maintained at 0.5 microg kg(-1) hr(-1). Thereafter, insertion of the AWS gave a Cormack grade 1 glottic view, and endotracheal anesthesia was provided by use of a modified spray tube through the AWS blade without patient anxiety or discomfort. The trachea was intubated using the AWS without respiratory depression or other complications while the patient was sedated (Ramsay sedation scale class 4). We consider the AWS to be useful for awake tracheal intubation in patients with a difficult airway.