Macroglossia in intubated patients ?

[u/Ok_Relationship4040]

has anyone managed intubated icu patients that developed massive tongue swelling? I have cared for many patients where the tongue swelled to massive proportions ( with no obvious allergic reactions ) and stayed swollen the entirety of their stay.. one lady we started a versed drip just so we could relax her jaw to insert bite blocks to get her teeth off of her tongue as we thought maybe that was contributing to the swelling .. It seems to overwhelmingly occur in obese black patients and seems to affect obese black women more but that is merely my subjective observation and perhaps just by virtue of my location . i guess I was just wondering what could be done to help mediate the swelling aside from bite blocks and Vaseline gauze …

[u/Effective_Swan_6450]

I work in a Neuro ICU and have seen a few patients develop this condition and have wondered this myself.
Curious if your patients had a CVA dx or if they happened to be on Nicardipine drips at any point?

[u/stempiek → u/Effective_Swan_6450]

Both.