Shared Airway Emergencies, Foreign Body Aspiration, and Acute Upper Airway Obstruction — WACS Viva & Clinical Scenarios (ENT & Ophthalmology)

Exam-style shared airway emergencies, foreign body aspiration, and acute upper airway obstruction viva scenarios with examiner probes and model answers for…

Scenarios covered

• SCENARIO 1: A 2-year-old child (ASA III E) presents 36 hours after choking on a groundnut seed, now with unilateral wheeze, tachypnoea, and SpO2 88% on room air. Outline your anaesthetic management plan for rigid bronchoscopy and foreign body extraction.
• SCENARIO 2: A 3-year-old unimmunised boy (ASA IV E) presents with acute onset toxic fever, drooling of saliva, inspiratory stridor, and severe tripoding posture. Detail your induction, intubation, and emergency airway rescue plan for suspected acute epiglottitis.
• SCENARIO 3: A 4-year-old girl (ASA II E) develops sudden total airway obstruction and pink frothy sputum 5 minutes after extubation following adenotonsillectomy. Detail your step-by-step diagnostic and therapeutic intervention.
• SCENARIO 4: A 6-year-old child (ASA III) with extensive juvenile recurrent respiratory papillomatosis involving the true and false vocal cords is scheduled for microdebrider ablation. Describe your airway strategy and maintenance of anaesthesia to optimise surgical visibility and oxygenation.