General anesthesia outside the operating room in patients with Pierre-Robin syndrome

Anesthesiologists are increasingly asked to involve in administering general anesthesia outside the operating room for such procedures as computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging or angiography. Especially, pediatric patients require some kind of sedation or general anesthesia during these procedures. We report general anesthesia outside the operating room in patients with Pierre-Robin syndrome, who are expected to have possible difficult airway. A one-year-old girl and a 16-year-old boy were anesthetized for cardiac catheterization. General anesthesia was given at the angiography room which was located outside the operating room. Anesthesia was induced with oxygen, nitrous oxide and sevoflurane while portable storage unit for difficult airway was prepared including various types and size of laryngoscopes, laryngeal mask airway, fiberoptic intubation equipment and surgical airway access. Fortunately, tracheas were successfully intubated without using special devices, although cautious care during induction was taken. According to development of medical and surgical procedures, it is readily presumed that anesthesiologists will be more often involved in the sedation or anesthesia conducted outside the operating room in future. Anesthesiologists should always ensure enough staffing, proper monitoring and equipment when sedation or anesthesia is conducted outside the operating room, particularly if patients have anesthetic risks.