Ep. 162 Pediatric Open Airway Surgery: It’s All About the Decision-Making with Dr. Sohit P. Kanotra
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. --- 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 --- RESOURCES Dr. Sohit Kanotra’s UCLA Profile https://www.uclahealth.org/providers/sohit-kanotra