BACKGROUND: The indications for surgical airway management in patients with Robin sequence (RS) and severe airway obstruction have not been well defined. While certain patients with RS clearly require surgical airway intervention and other patients just as clearly can be managed with conservative measures alone, a significant proportion of patients with RS present with a more confusing and ambiguous clinical course. The purpose of this study was to describe the clinical features and objective findings of patients with RS whose airways were successfully managed without surgical intervention. METHODS: The authors retrospectively reviewed the medical charts of infants with RS evaluated for potential surgical airway management between 1994 and 2014. Patients who were successfully managed without surgical intervention were included. Patient demographics, nutritional and respiratory status, laboratory values, and polysomnography (PSG) findings were recorded. RESULTS: Thirty-two infants met the inclusion criteria. The average hospital stay was 16.8 days (range, 5–70 days). Oxygen desaturation (<70% by pulse oximetry) occurred in the majority of patients and was managed with temporary oxygen supplementation by nasal cannula (59%) or endotracheal intubation (31%). Seventy-five percent of patients required a temporary nasogastric tube for nutritional support, and a gastrostomy tube placed was placed in 9%. All patients continued to gain weight following the implementation of these conservative measures. PSG data (n=26) demonstrated mild to moderate obstruction, a mean apneahypopnea index (AHI) of 19.2±5.3 events/hour, and an oxygen saturation level <90% during only 4% of the total sleep time. CONCLUSIONS: Nonsurgical airway management was successful in patients who demonstrated consistent weight gain and mild to moderate obstruction on PSG, with a mean AHI of <20 events/hour.
Airway Management* ; Airway Obstruction ; Catheters ; Classification ; Demography ; Disease Management ; Gastrostomy ; Humans ; Infant ; Intubation, Intratracheal ; Length of Stay ; Nutritional Support ; Oxygen ; Pierre Robin Syndrome* ; Polysomnography ; Retrospective Studies ; Songbirds* ; Weight Gain

The required adjustments precipitated by the coronavirus disease 2019 crisis have been challenging, but also represent a critical opportunity for the evolution and potential disruptive and constructive change of medical education. Given that the format of medical education is not fixed, but malleable and in fact must be adaptable to societal needs through ongoing reflexivity, we find ourselves in a potentially transformative learning phase for the field. An Association for Medical Education in Europe ASPIRE Academy group of 18 medical educators from seven countries was formed to consider this opportunity, and identified critical questions for collective reflection on current medical education practices and assumptions, with the attendant challenge to envision the future of medical education. This was achieved through online discussion as well as asynchronous collective reflections by group members. Four major themes and related conclusions arose from this conversation: Why we teach: the humanitarian mission of medicine should be reinforced; what we teach: disaster management, social accountability and embracing an environment of complexity and uncertainty should be the core; how we teach: open pathways to lean medical education and learning by developing learners embedded in a community context; and whom we teach: those willing to take professional responsibility. These collective reflections provide neither fully matured digests of the challenges of our field, nor comprehensive solutions; rather they are offered as a starting point for medical schools to consider as we seek to harness the learning opportunities stimulated by the pandemic.