Facilitating Airway Surgery in a Morbidly Obese Patient Using Transnasal Humidified Rapid Insufflation Ventilatory Exchange (THRIVE)

Transnasal Humidified Rapid Insufflation Ventilatory Exchange (THRIVE) is a relatively new noninvasive oxygenation technique with a broad range of applications. It is used in the treatment of type one respiratory failure, as a preoxygenation tool, as a rescue and temporising measure in difficult airways, and as step-down oxygen therapy in patients after extubation. Its use has also been described in laryngeal surgeries, but they mainly involved normal-weight subjects or were used as a bridging oxygenation therapy before definitive airway is secured. The major benefits of using THRIVE in obese subjects undergoing laryngeal surgery include a tubeless and uninterrupted surgical field. This advantage is especially crucial in obese patients as they tend to have limited oropharyngeal space, rendering a shared airway technically challenging for surgeons. However, concerns of potential difficult airway and shorter safe apnoeic time in the obese population limit its use. In this case, we report its use as the sole oxygenation strategy in a morbidly obese patient undergoing airway surgery. Our experience suggests that THRIVE can provide a conducive operating field and adequate oxygenation in short apnoeic laryngeal procedures in the obese population, without causing excessive hypercarbia.