When tracheal invasion of a malignant tumor or tracheal stenosis of a benign origin exists at the lower or anterior part of the trachea, tracheal intubation or conventional tracheostomy may be difficult, and in these cases a modified tracheostomy through the lower or lateral part of the trachea would be necessary. We present 6 cases of modified tracheostomy performed with satisfactory results in severe tracheal stenosis that developed in the lower or anterior part of the trachea.
Intubation ; Trachea ; Tracheal Stenosis* ; Tracheostomy*

BACKGROUND: A tracheal stenosis is caused by mucosal ischemic injury related to a high cuff pressure (Pcuff) of the endotracheal tube. In contrast, aspiration of the upper airway secretion and impaired g as exchange due to cuff leakage is related to a low Pcuff. To prevent these complications, the Pcuff should be kept appropriately because the appropriate Pcuff appears to change according to the patients' bedside. To address the necessity of continuous Pcuff monitoring, the change in the Pcuff was evaluated at various Vcuff levels on a daily basis in patients with long-term mechanical ventilation. The utility of mercury column sphygmomanometer for the continous monitoring Pcuff was also investigated. METHOD: The change in Pcuff according to the increase in Vcuff was observed in 17 patients with prolonged endotracheal intubation for mechanical ventilation for 2 week or more. This maneuver measured the change in Pcuff daily during the mechanical ventilation days. In addition, the Pcuff measured by mercury column sphygmomanometer was compared with the Pcuff measured by an automatic cuff pressure manager. RESULTS: There were no statistically significant changes of Pcuff during more than 14 days of intubation for mechanical ventilation. However the Vcuff required to maintain the appropriate Pcuff varied from 1.9cc to 9.6cc. In addition, the intra-individed variation of the Pcuff was observed from 10cmH2O to 46cmH2O at constant 3cc Vcuff. The Pcuff measured by the bedside mercury column sphymomanometer is well coincident with that measured by the automatic cuff pressure manager. CONCLUSION: Continuous monitoring and management of the Pcuff to maintain the appropriate Pcuff level in order to prevent cuff related problems during long-term mechanical ventilation is recommended. For this purpose, mercury column sphygmomanometer may replace the specific cuff pressure monitoring equipment.
Humans ; Intubation ; Intubation, Intratracheal* ; Respiration, Artificial* ; Sphygmomanometers ; Tracheal Stenosis

The Intubating Laryngeal Mask Airway (ILMA) is an advanced type of laryngeal mask airway (LMA), designed to facilitate tracheal intubation with an endotracheal tube. Its use in a 44 year old female with an anticipated difficult airway due to severe burn contractures in the neck and axilla, with lid ectropion, will be discussed. (Author)
Human ; Female ; Adult ; INTUBATION ; INTUBATION ; TRACHEAL ; ANESTHESIOLOGY ; LARYNGOSCOPY

Tracheal neurilemoma, an extremely rare benign tracheal tumor that there has been only one case reported in 1996 throughout the nation, is a slowly progressing disease that obliterates the upper airway, delays diagnosis for its symptom similarity to asthma, and makes intubation for operation difficult. Bronchoscopic is therefore needed for diagnosis. There are two options for the treatment methods, a bronchoscopic resection or open surgical resection; however if intubation is difficult, then the bronchoscopic resection is used first to keep the airway open for the surgical resection. In this case, the severe tracheal stenosis impeding intubation made the surgical resection of the primary tracheal neurilemoma with extratracheal mass impossible; therefore, bronchoscopic laser resection was applied first to optain the airway passage for endotracheal intubation, followed by a successful open surgical resection.
Asthma ; Diagnosis ; Humans ; Intubation ; Intubation, Intratracheal ; Laser Therapy* ; Neurilemmoma* ; Tracheal Neoplasms ; Tracheal Stenosis*

Surgery on the distal trachea or the carina presents special problems for maintaining the airway and systemic oxygenation. Cardiopulmonary bypass is an alternative method for respiratory support for the patients with these conditions. Percutaneous cardiopulmonary support (PCPS) applied under local anesthesia has recently been used for respiratory support in tracheal surgery and the outcome is satisfactory. We encountered a patient who had severe distal tracheal stenosis after prolonged intubation. We had a gratifying result with performing tracheal resection and repair under the support of PCPS.
Anesthesia, Local ; Cardiopulmonary Bypass ; Humans ; Intubation ; Oxygen ; Trachea ; Tracheal Stenosis

A small sized tube can be used for a patient with tracheal stenosis. However, an ordinary endotracheal tube may be not long enough to pass over stenotic lesion of trachea in adult patient for nasotracheal intubation, when stenotic lesion is located distally. We experienced a patient with severe tracheal stenotic lesion 5 cm above the carina and 3.1 cm length of stenotic lesion scheduled for laryngeal microscopic surgery. The two 4.0 mm tubes-connected tube using modified connector was designed and prepared. We performed fiberoptic-guided awake nasotracheal intubation using the extended endotracheal tube and the patient was successfully managed without complications until the surgery was completed.
Adult ; Airway Management* ; Humans ; Intubation ; Trachea ; Tracheal Stenosis*

We performed a balloon dilatation without a fluoroscopy monitoring by ultrasound. A 44 year old female patient was presented with subglottic stenosis, due to prolonged intubation. Although she had undergone tracheal resection and end-to-end anastomosis, the tracheal stenosis had recurred. She was scheduled for balloon dilatation. However, fluoroscopic guidance was not available, and thus, we used ultrasonographic monitoring as an alternative method. We performed a transverse scan, just cranial to the suprasternal notch, and we obtained a real time image of the trachea dilated by the balloon. We suggest that ultrasonographic monitoring is a useful adjunct to balloon dilatation in patients with tracheal stenosis.
Constriction, Pathologic ; Dilatation ; Female ; Fluoroscopy ; Humans ; Intubation ; Trachea ; Tracheal Stenosis

Encountering a patient with unanticipated laryngotracheal stenosis (LTS) during anesthetic induction is challenging for an anesthesiologist. Because routine history taking and pre-anesthetic evaluation cannot rule out the possibility of LTS, other measures should be taken. Perioperative airway maintenance is considered crucial for avoiding complications such as airway edema, bleeding, obstruction, collapse, and ultimately respiratory failure and arrest. We report an unanticipated tracheal stenosis discovered during anesthetic induction that hindered endotracheal intubation. Because airway maintenance was difficult, we postponed surgery until determining the cause of the difficult entry, considered possible therapeutic approaches (both anesthetic and surgical), and provided successful surgery with a continuous epidural block.
Airway Management ; Constriction, Pathologic ; Edema ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Intubation* ; Intubation, Intratracheal ; Respiratory Insufficiency ; Tracheal Stenosis*

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Tracheotomy, although an inevitable procedure in some situations, is often avoided in pediatrics for its frequent and serious complications. So, authors studied clinical characteristics of tracheotomy as observed in pediatrics. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 138 children who underwent tracheotomy during the past twenty years since 1977 were investigated. We analyzed distribution of age and gender, annual frequency, causative disorders for tracheotomy and complications. RESULTS: 1) Number of tracheotomy performed tended to be decreased with time: 2) Tracheotomy was performed two times more frequently in males than in females, and most frequently below eight years old: 3) Most frequent causative disease was head injury (27.5%): 4) Most frequent indication of tracheotomy was ventilator support (49.3%): 5) The history of endotracheal intubation before tracheotomy was 86.2%: 6) The complications of the tracheotomy developed in 39.9%, with the most frequent complications being granulation formation (18.1%), followed by tracheal stenosis (17.4%). 7) Frequency of late complication was relatively lower in the shorter intubation period group (22.9%) than in the longer intubation period groups (51.5% and 33.3%): 8) Late complications were lower in the group who had not been supported by a ventilator: 9) Late comlications did not occurre in cases who were decannulated before 1 month. CONCLUSION: We found that factors associated with complications were duration of endotracheal intubation before tracheotomy, history of ventilator care and timing of decannulation.
Child ; Craniocerebral Trauma ; Female ; Humans ; Intubation ; Intubation, Intratracheal ; Male ; Pediatrics* ; Tracheal Stenosis ; Tracheotomy* ; Ventilators, Mechanical

Tracheal stenosis is well known complication of endotracheal intubation. However, severe post intubation tracheal stenosis that requires interventional bronchoscopy or tracheal surgery is un-common. Necrosis induced by cuff pressure-related loss of regional blood flow is the central injury leading to postinubation tracheal stenosis. The large volume, low pressure cuff of endo-tracheal tubes have markedly reduced the occurrence cuff-induced injury. However, in any patient who develops symptoms of airway obstruction, who has been intubated and ventilated in the recent past, possibility of tracheal stenosis should be considered. We report a case of severe tracheal stenosis by tracheal web formation a 52-year-old following ventilator therapy for ARDS.
Airway Obstruction ; Bronchoscopy ; Humans ; Intubation ; Intubation, Intratracheal ; Middle Aged ; Necrosis ; Regional Blood Flow ; Tracheal Stenosis ; Ventilators, Mechanical