Abstract:

Chordoma is a slow-growing, locally invasive, low-grade malignant tumor with a prevalence of one in 100 000, accounting for 1%-4% of all malignant bone tumors. At present, it is considered that chordoma originates from ectopic embryonic chordal tissue and can occur in any part of the spine from the skull base to the sacrum. About 50% of chordoma occurs in the sacrococcygeal region, about 30% in the skull base, and the rest occurs in the active spinal region. Cervical chordoma is rare, but it may be accompanied by difficult airways. The tumors compress the pharynx and throat forward, which can cause upper airway obstruction. If the anesthesia is not properly handled, the patient may die of asphyxia. The core issues of airway management during the perioperative period of cervical chordoma surgery involve three main parts: preoperative airway evaluation, airway management and extubation management. Difficult airway assessment often relies on physical examination indicators, such as inter-incisor gap, thyromental distance, neck circumference, Mallampati test, etc. But the accuracy is insufficient. The application of imaging examination in the observation of different tissues can make up for the inaccurate evaluation of the internal structure of the airway. Because chordoma destroys cervical vertebral body and accessories, cervical stability is impaired. Excessive cervical vertebral extention should be avoided during tracheal intubation to prevent severe compression of the spinal cord. It is better to fix the head by an assistant and perform neutral tracheal intubation. Considering that the patient with a difficult airway that could be predicted before operation, the strategy of tracheal intubation under conscious sedation with topical anesthesia was selected. After sedation and topical anesthesia, the patient was successfully intubated with optical stylet. After operation, the patient returned to ICU with tracheal catheter. On the 4th day after operation, the tracheal tube was pulled out. On the 5th day after operation, the patient was transferred to the orthopaedic ward and discharged on the 7th day after operation. It is of great significance to establish specific strategies for such operations to reduce related complications, speed up post-operative rehabilitation and save medical resources. We reported the anesthetic management of cervical chordoma cured in Peking University Third Hospital.

Key words: Cervical spine, Chordoma, Difficult airway, Anesthesia