1. Shigeoka J. Demand valves for oxygen therapy: your mileage may vary (editorial). Respir Care 2004;(49)2:156–157. 2. Heimlich HJ. Respiratory rehabilitation with transtracheal oxygen system. Ann Otol Rhino Laryngol 1982;91(6 Pt 1):643–647. 3. Christopher KL, Spofford BT, Petrun MD, McCarty DC, Goodman JR, Petty TL. A program for transtracheal oxygen delivery: assessment of safety and efficacy...

BACKGROUND An unanticipated difficult airway is very uncommon in infants. The recommendations for managing the cannot ventilate-cannot intubate (CVCI) situation in infants and small children are based on difficult airway algorithms for adults. These algorithms usually recommend placement of a transtracheal cannula or performing a surgical tracheotomy as a last resort. In this study, we compared...

Twenty-four matched pairs of isolates of Pasteurella haemolytica and three matched pairs of isolates of Pasteurella multocida were isolated by using a nasal swab and a transtracheal swab from individual calves with clinical signs of bovine respiratory disease. The identity of each matched pair was confirmed biochemically and serologically. The similarity of the isolates obtained from a nasal sw...

I was recently catching up on some long overdue journal reading and came upon the editorial “Demand valves for oxygen therapy: your mileage may vary” by John Shigeoka in the February issue of RESPIRATORY CARE.1 Though I agree with the overwhelming majority of Dr Shigeoka’s observations, I took exception to his description of transtracheal catheters as “the other novel form of oxygen-conserving ...

Transtracheal punctures were performed in 193 miners of anthracosilicotic coal who presented with an acute exacerbation of chronic bronchitis. The transtracheal aspirates were bacteriologically positive in 104 patients. Branhamella catarrhalis was isolated in 15 patients; 10 of these responded to chemotherapy, as shown by the resolution of all symptoms and the disappearance of the organism on a...

In a patient with a transtracheal oxygen catheter (ITO2C), a nearly fatal complication occurred due to the formation of a mucous plug on the tip, which almost totally obstructed the tracheal lumen. To our knowledge, this complication has not been reported before with the use of this type of transtracheal oxygen catheter.

A 73-year-old woman with a transtracheal oxygen catheter in place developed sudden onset of respiratory distress and subcutaneous emphysema. Bronchoscopy revealed the presence of three posterior tracheal wall perforations and a blind pouch arising from one of the perforations. Subsequent bronchoscopies revealed complete healing of the perforations. We believe that these perforations occurred du...