Anesthetic management of a patient with Ludwig's angina]

A 71-year-old woman with cellulitis of the floor of the mouth, referred to as "Ludwig's angina", underwent emergency tracheostomy under general anesthesia, for the control of airway narrowing caused by sublingual and submandibular swelling with tongue elevation. Because difficult airway had been suspected by preoperative assessment, feasible options of intubation in our hospital, including laryngeal mask, fiberoptic intubation and transtracheal jet ventilation, were prepared prior to induction of anesthesia. Anesthetic induction was carried out with propofol and suxamethonium, and subsequently tracheal intubation could be performed with difficulty under condition of partial visualization of vocal cord. Anesthetic maintenance with local anesthesia and continuous infusion of propofol 6 mg.kg-1.hr-1 was carried out during tracheostomy procedure, and this procedure was done uneventfully. Because airway control still remains a top priority in Ludwig's angina, feasible options of airway control should be prepared before induction of anesthesia if tracheostomy was required in a patient with this disease.