Anesthetic management of a patient with benign tracheal tumor identified at induction of general anesthesia

Benign tumors of the tracheobronchial tree are quite rare [1] and are sometimes misdiagnosed as asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) when the symptoms are not severe [1,2,3]. Delayed diagnosis is common and these tumors may not be identified for a long time if they are slow growing [1,2,3]. In such cases, routine examinations such as chest radiography will not reveal the tumor before elective surgery [1,3] and it is possible that induction of general anesthesia will be initiated before the anesthetist recognizes that there is a tumor in the tracheobronchial tree.

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