Attila Ovári, Tino Just, Steffen Dommerich, Volker Hingst, Arne Böttcher, Tobias Schuldt, Ellen Guder, Thomas Mencke, Hans-Wilhelm Pau
Iatrogenic tracheal rupture is a rare complication after intubation. We present three patients with tracheal tears. In all of these patients, a common finding was a lesion of the posterior tracheal wall with postoperative subcutaneous and emphysema as the first clinical sign of the rupture. Diagnosis and follow-up were based on clinical and endoscopic findings and chest computed tomography (CT) scans. In our cases with progressive subcutaneous and mediastinal emphysema or dyspnea, we performed a tracheotomy and bypassed the lesion with a tracheostomy tube to avoid an increase in air leakage into the mediastinum...
June 2014: Journal of Thoracic Disease