Mordified Submental Endotracheal Intubation Technique in Maxillofacial Injuries

Submental endotracheal intubation was carried out in five patientsover a two-year period. Each patient required maxillomandibular fixation following trauma.Acommon feature in these patients was depressed fracture of the frontonasal bone which could not permit nasal intubation. These patients were reluctant to have tracheostomy if there was an alternative option of securing their airway. Following a normal orotracheal intubation, a submand incision was made and the proximal endotracheal tube (ETT)exteriorized through it. At the end of anaesthesia and surgery, the tube was left insitu for six to forty-eight hours before extubation. The incision was closed following local anaesthetic (LA) infiltration and no airway compromisewas noted. Submental intubation is a simple and useful technique with low morbidity in cases of craniomaxillofacial trauma and the authors’ clinical experience with this technique is described.Niger Med J. Vol. 49, No. 4, Oct – Dec, 2008: 101– 103.Keywords: SubmentalEndotracheal, Intubation,Maxillofacial