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Ep. 162 Pediatric Open Airway Surgery: It’s All About the Decision-Making with Dr. Sohit P. Kanotra
Description
In this episode, Dr. Sohit Kanotra, director of UCLA’s Complex Pediatric Airway Program, discusses open airway surgery in children with host Dr. Gopi Shah.
First, the surgeons review the presentation of pediatric airway stenosis, which causes stridor in younger children and exercise intolerance in older ones. Drawing on his experience at UCLA, Dr. Kanotra addresses how to build a pediatric airway program, emphasizing the importance of relationships with the NICU and PICU. He advises airway surgeons to coordinate with these units to share protocols, organize conferences, and assist with bedside swallow assessments. Then, the discussion transitions to pre-operative evaluation of and contemporary strategies in pediatric airway reconstruction. Dr. Kanotra shares pearls for surgical planning, operative technique, and post-operative management. The episode concludes with Dr. Kanotra’s high-level advice to fellow pediatric airway surgeons.
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SHOW NOTES
00:00 - Introduction
03:03 - Building UCLA’s Complex Airway Program
09:37 - Decision-Making in Pediatric Open Airway Surgery
20:10 - Pediatric Airway Surgery: A Multidisciplinary Effort
32:24 - Preoperative Assessment for Open Airway Surgery
38:16 - Evaluating the Airway: Techniques & Tools
39:34 - Planning for Open Airway Surgery
40:15 - Understanding Expansion & Resection Procedures
56:58 - Using Release Maneuvers in Pediatric Open Airway Surgery
01:00:29 - Post-operative Management and Follow-up
01:06:33 - Concluding Thoughts & Pearls
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RESOURCES
Dr. Sohit Kanotra’s UCLA Profile
https://www.uclahealth.org/providers/sohit-kanotra