Use of laryngeal mask airway in anesthesia for treatment of retinopathy of prematurity.

OBJECTIVES: To review clinical experience of anesthesia management using laryngeal mask airway (LMA) during retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) photocoagulation.

METHODS: After obtaining the ethical approval from the Ethics Committee, we retrospectively reviewed the anesthesia records of 85 infants who underwent laser photocoagulation for ROP between June 2004 and June 2010 at the Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care, School of Medicine, Dokuz Eylul University, Izmir, Turkey. Anesthesia records were reviewed for airway management and respiratory complications in addition to medical and demographic data.

RESULTS: The mean gestational age was 28.61±2.62 weeks, birth weight was 1205.24±384.51 g, post-conceptional age was 38.21±7.01 weeks, and weight at the time of operation was 2323.9±588.6 g. Laryngeal mask airway was used with minimal complications in all patients, even in patients with chronic lung disease including bronchopulmonary dysplasia. After the ROP treatment, the LMA was successfully removed in all infants under deep anesthesia and none of the patients needed endotracheal intubation or ventilatory support.

CONCLUSIONS: Laryngeal mask airway is a safe and easy to use alternative for airway management during laser photocoagulation procedure in infants with ROP.