TRACHEAL stenosis is a rare but a life-threatening condition and is caused by congenital problems, postintubation injury, trauma, tracheal tumor, and compression of the trachea by tumor. Although accurate prevalence of this condition is unknown, an incidence of 4.9 cases per million per year is estimated for postintubation tracheal stenosis. A stenosis commonly occurs at the cuff of the tube (i...

BACKGROUND We evaluated the effects of conventional tracheal tube orientation on success of intubation through an intubating laryngeal mask airway (ILMA) in Mallampati class 3 or 4 patients. METHODS Two hundred adults, ASA I-II, Mallampati class 3 or 4, undergoing elective surgery under general anaesthesia were enrolled. All the patients were randomly allocated to either normal or reverse gro...

BACKGROUND Approximately 80% of acquired eso-tracheal or mediastinal fistulae are of malignant nature. The occurrence of an eso-respiratory malignant fistula is a devastating complication for both patient and doctor, and, if not treated, records a survival time of 1 to 6 weeks. MATHERIAL AND METHOD We present a patient, aged 51, smoker,with progressive dysphagia, at first to solids, then to s...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the complication of vocal cord dysfunction following open heart surgery and its short- and long-term effects. MATERIALS AND METHODS Five cases (1.9%) of vocal cord dysfunction which were diagnosed among 270 cases of adult open heart surgery performed at this centre between February 1993 and May 1995. RESULTS All five patients developed respiratory insufficiency followi...

BACKGROUND Coughing during emergence from general anaesthesia may be detrimental, particularly after cervical spine surgery. We compared the effect of propofol or sevoflurane anaesthesia on the incidence and severity of coughing during recovery in patients undergoing cervical spine surgery via an anterior approach. As a secondary aim, we also evaluated the influences of smoking and estimated re...

BACKGROUND To prevent endothelium and nerve lesions, tracheal tube and laryngeal mask cuff pressure is to be maintained at a low level and yet be high enough to secure air sealing. METHOD In a prospective quality-control study, 201 patients undergoing surgery during anaesthesia (without the use of nitrous oxide) were included for determination of the cuff pressure of the tracheal tubes and la...

The authors encountered a case involving difficult intubation during anesthesia for revision of cervical fixation angle in a 62-year-old woman, with a history of chronic rheumatoid arthritis, who experienced dysphagia after initial posterior occipitocervical fusion to correct atlantoaxial subluxation. Two days after initial surgery, she developed trismus with neck flexion and dysphagia, and und...

BACKGROUND In this prospective study we aimed at examining the effects of pneumatic tourniquet on intraocular pressure during elective knee surgery. METHOD Twenty patients undergoing elective knee surgery under general anesthesia with tracheal intubation were inluded the study. Anesthesia was induced with pentothal, rocuronium and fentanyl, then maintained with sevoflurane and nitrous oxide i...

"Tracheal trifurcation" is a veritable and rare finding. We illustrate a unique case that demonstrates the complexity and broad variability that congenital tracheobronchial anomalies can take. Appreciation of these is important at intubation, bronchoscopy, and surgery.