Postoperative cervical hematoma is a life-threatening cause of airway obstruction, particularly after extensive head and neck surgery. The 2025 Difficult Airway Society (DAS) guidelines highlight the need for early recognition of airway compromise, preservation of spontaneous ventilation, and prioritization of awake techniques when anatomical distortion is anticipated. We report a 55-year-old man with parotid carcinoma who underwent a 10-h elective parotidectomy with a transcoclear petrosectomy approach. He was admitted ventilated to the post-anaesthesia care unit and extubated uneventfully 20 hours later. On postoperative day 4, he developed rapidly progressive cervical swelling requiring urgent surgical re-exploration. Given the severe anatomical distortion and impending airway compromise, a multidisciplinary airway strategy was formulated, and awake flexible bronchoscopic intubation was performed under spontaneous ventilation, with ENT surgeons prepared for immediate surgical rescue. Nasal fibreoptic intubation was initially hindered by marked supraglottic oedema and distorted upper airway anatomy, but successful nasotracheal intubation was achieved on the second attempt. CT imaging confirmed a large multiloculated cervical hematoma with substantial mass effect and airway displacement. This case reinforces key DAS 2025 and ASA 2022 principles in emergency airway management and underscores the critical role of awake flexible bronchoscopic intubation in the setting of rapidly evolving postoperative airway distortion.
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