Airway Management in Patients with Robin Sequence

Airway management in infants with Robin sequence (RS) remains controversial, ranging from conservative to operative modalities. In some centers, tracheostomy remains the mainstay for those infants with severe respiratory obstruction. We present here a retrospective review of 61 infants with RS at a large tertiary center from 1994 to 2010. Patients who had undergone tracheostomy were identified. Baseline demographics, complications, mortality, and time to decannulation without further surgical intervention (i.e., “natural” decannulation) were recorded. We witnessed that tracheostomy in infants with RS is associated with inordinately high rates of mortality and morbidity and long-term tracheostomy dependence, particularly patients with syndromic RS.