Awake Intubation

[Pippa001]

Seeking advise re awake intubation. I have surgery for gall bladder removal booked for 5/7 and due to previous complications Anaesthetist said they would intubate while awake. I am very nervous and seriously stressed about the intubation. Can you tell me about your experiences please / advise please.

[mrsmerlin]

I have no experience of this at all. The closest I have come would be the endoscopic ultrasound where the 'tube' is quite wide. I think the fear of it was worse than the procedure and I hope the same applies to you here.

Is a sedative for the procedure an option? You would still be awake but your nerves will be called making it easier for you.

Rita x

[Millie09]

Hi there, I am not familiar with this , but I am presuming it's very similar to what I had yesterday. A gastroscopy. I was wide awake even though they had given me 2mg of medazolan which didn't knock me to sleep it just helped take the edge off so to speak. Don't get me wrong , and I won't lie, I did not hurt once it went past the back of my throat; I don't know how I managed to get through it but I did thanks to the nurses in theatre. It only seemed like 2 mins but it actually lasted 13! So I must have been in and out and not realised. I think maybe they upped the dose when I tried to pull the scope out lol .

Don't worry though ; you will be fine!! It's the thought more so than the procedure that's worse. 😊xx best wishes Linda

[Litimag]

Awake fibre optic intubation is actually safer than the usual sleeping approach. They will use a lot of lignocaine throat spray to numb your upper airway, also nasal spray too, depending on the route they want to take. But either way, the tube being passed into your trachea shouldn't hurt, though it will make you cough. You will probably be in a sitting position on the operating table, so it doesn't feel as weird as perhaps it would if lying flat. The fibre scope itself is very thin, the tube that they will pass over it is thicker obviously but not enormous. I'm not claiming it is a pleasant experience, but nowhere near as bad as having an upper GI endoscopy in my opinion. Plus as soon as the anaesthetist is happy with the tube placement, they will get you off to sleep straight away. On a side note, there are anaesthetists in the USA who do awake intubation for all their patients, due to the inherent safety of the technique. Best of luck tomorrow, and try not to worry.