We report a case of tracheal rupture in an 84-yr-old patient after tracheal intubation. The aetiology and treatment are discussed and the recent literature is reviewed.

Awake videolaryngoscopy may be useful for the tracheal intubation of the morbidly obese. This prospective, observational study enrolled 50 patients undergoing bariatric surgery. After sedation and topical anaesthesia of the airway, awake tracheal intubation was attempted, assisted by videolaryngoscopy, and terminated if there was severe gagging, coughing, or inadequate laryngeal view. After thr...

BACKGROUND Failed or difficult tracheal intubation is an important cause of morbidity and mortality during anesthesia. Although a number of fiberoptic devices are available to circumvent this problem, many do not allow manual control of the flexion of the tip and necessitate time-consuming preparation, special training, or the use of an external light source. To improve these limitations, the a...

OBJECTIVE To review current concepts related to the procedure of tracheal intubation in children. SOURCES Relevant articles published from 1968 to 2006 were selected from the MEDLINE, LILACS and SciELO databases, using the keywords intubation, tracheal intubation, child, rapid sequence intubation and pediatric airway. SUMMARY OF THE FINDINGS Airway management in children is related to their...

Handling and efficacy of a new video-optical intubation stylet were assessed in a simulated difficult tracheal intubation setting and compared with a conventional malleable stylet. Forty-five anaesthetists performed 10 tracheal intubations using both techniques. Laryngoscopy was performed by the observer, who created a grade 3 view according the classification by Cormack and Lehane. The time ta...

Application of cervical collars may reduce cervical spine movements but render tracheal intubation with a standard laryngoscope difficult if not impossible. We hypothesised that despite the presence of a Philadelphia Patriot cervical collar and with the patient's head taped to the trolley, tracheal intubation would be possible in 50 adult patients using the GlideScope and its dedicated stylet. ...

BACKGROUND The LMA CTrach system (The Laryngeal Mask Company, Singapore) is a development of the LMA Fastrach system (The Laryngeal Mask Company, Singapore), with integrated fiberoptic bundles and a detachable liquid crystal display viewer. This randomized study of 271 patients compared tracheal intubation with these two systems. METHODS In both groups, ventilation was optimized after inserti...

BACKGROUND Expert management of tracheal intubation has become fundamental to the routine practice of pulmonary physicians who work in respiratory intensive care units (ICUs). In Italy, tracheal intubation is not included as part of the training in respiratory medicine, and pulmonary physicians are usually dissuaded from managing intubations. METHODS We prospectively studied the intubation su...

Postintubation tracheal stenosis is a complication of endotracheal intubation. The pathological mechanism and risk factors for endotracheal intubation-induced tracheal stenosis remain not fully understood. We aimed to establish an animal model and to investigate risk factors for postintubation tracheal stenosis. Beagles were intubated with 4 sized tubes (internal diameter 6.5 to 8.0 mm) and cuf...

We present a case of problematic tracheal intubation in an adult patient with an unrecognized tracheal bronchus. Immediately after tracheal intubation and position change to prone, bilateral breath sounds were almost absent, and there was a diminished tidal volume. In order to resolve the ventilatory difficulty, the wire-reinforced tube was replaced with a conventional tube, and proper position...