Objective To investigate the anesthetic management of respiratory function in patients with medulla oblongata tumor in the perioperative period.Methods A retrospective analysis was performed on the clinical data of patients with medulla oblongata tumor who were treated by craniotomy in Department of Neurosurgery, Beijing Tiantan Hospital, especially the data on the management of respiratory function during the anesthetic period and perioperative period.Results A total of 28 patients with medulla oblongata tumor from January 2014 to October 2014 were included in the study and the glioma was the most dominating pathology. About 46.4% (13/28) of all patients suffered from swallowing dysfunction and 3.6% (1/28) suffered from respiratory dysfunction before the operation. About 42.8% (12/28) of all patients underwent tracheal intubation via the nose in the operation. Among all the patients, 75% (21/28) received observation with tracheal intubation after the operation, and 31.4% (9/28) and 35.7% (10/28) received tracheotomy and ventilator-assisted ventilation because of respiratory dysfunction after the operation. The patients with malignant tumor were more likely to suffer from respiratory dysfunction than those with benign tumor after the operation.Conclusions The patients with malignant medulla oblongata tumor often suffer from respiratory dysfunction after the operation. Maintaining the intubation, especially the intubation via the nose, is helpful for the management of respiratory function after the operation. And tracheotomy and ventilator-assisted ventilation should be performed if necessary.