Management of laryngeal airway in Reinke’s edema: An anesthetic overview

Abstract

Reinke’s edema (RE) is a benign polypoidal lesion of the vocal folds. The vocal folds show a white and translucent edema, confined into the superficial lamina propria. The lesions usually affect both vocal folds with fusiform appearance and even mobile during phonation. Hoarseness of voice is the most common clinical presentation in RE. Reinke’s edema is often associated with smoking habit, gastroesophageal reflux, and voice abuse. It usually occurs in middle-aged male or postmenopausal women who have a long-term history of smoking. We hereby report a case of a large polypoidal RE who presented with ventilation difficulties during general anesthesia using positive pressure mask ventilation.