Humans ; Mediastinitis ; Tracheostomy ; Tracheotomy

This paper introduced the measurement methods of heat and moisture exchanger during tracheotomy with two main parameters (water loss and pressure drop) and proposed more heat and moisture exchanger evaluation indicators such as the death chamber, the heat exchange rate, as well as those parameters can be used to evaluate the reasonableness of the heat and moisture exchanger performance.
Humans ; Humidity ; Tracheotomy ; instrumentation ; methods

Catheters ; Humans ; Metals ; Trachea ; Tracheotomy

OBJECTIVE/strong: To design and test an improvised tracheotomy speaking valve fabricated from recycled parts of an anesthesia airway breathing circuit.br /br /strongMETHODS/strong: br /strongDesign/strong: Surgical Instrumentationbr /strongSetting/strong: Tertiary Private Hospitalbr /strongSubjects/strong: Speaking valves fabricated from discarded anesthesia breathing circuit parts were pilot-tested on three patients: one with vocal fold paralysis, another with a supraglottic mass and one post hemi-laryngectomy. br /br /strongRESULTS/strong: The improvised tracheotomy speaking valve was inexpensive and relatively easy to assemble. All three patients tolerated speech well through the speaking valve and were pleased to reestablish their means of verbal communication. Maximum Phonation Time (MPT) averaged 8 seconds for all three subjects.br /br /strongCONCLUSION/strong: In our local setting, improving the quality of life of tracheotomized patients should be accessible to all, hence the value of an improvised speaking valve. It provides a more affordable means of restoring speech and because it is made from recycled materials, it is eco-friendly. Our improvised speaking valve is also a cheaper but viable alternative to more expensive commercially available ones. Clinical trials with standardized feedback questionnaires, multi-observer perceptual evaluation with a system such as the GRBAS and/or vocal acoustic measures in a speech laboratory should be made to assess long term use, efficiency and safety measures./p
Tracheotomy ; Surgical Procedures, Operative ; instrumentation-surgery

Foreign body (FB) airway obstruction is a life-threatening clinical situation. The FB's are removed by bronchoscopy in the majority of patients, but in highly-selected cases, tracheotomy is occasionally indicated in foreign body extraction, when they are subglottic in location and impacted, or large enough to get obstructed at the glottic chink during endoscopic removal. Authors report one case of tracheal FB which required tracheotomy for the FB removal after the failure of FB removal with rigid bronchoscopy.
Airway Obstruction ; Bronchoscopy ; Foreign Bodies* ; Humans ; Tracheotomy*

Objective: This study aims to investigate which, if any head and neck symptoms (trismus, dysphagia, alterations in speech or facial movements, and dyspnea) might be good predictors of outcomes (mortality, tracheostomy, discharged, decannulated) and prognosis of tetanus patients. Methods: Design: Retrospective Cohort Study Setting: Tertiary National University Hospital Patients: Seventy-three (73) pediatric and adult patients diagnosed with tetanus and admitted at the emergency room of the Philippine General Hospital between January 1, 2013 and December 31, 2017. Demographic characteristics, incubation periods, periods of onset, routes of entry, head and neck symptoms, stage, and outcomes were retrieved from medical records and analyzed. Results: Of the 73 patients included, 53 (73%) were adults, while the remaining 20 (27%) were pediatric. The three most common head and neck symptoms were trismus (48; 66%), neck pain/ rigidity (35; 48%), and dysphagia to solids (31; 42%). Results of multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that only trismus (OR = 3.742, p = .015) and neck pain/ rigidity (OR = 4.135, p = .015) were significant predictors of decannulation. No dependent variable/symptoms had a significant effect in predicting discharge and mortality. Conclusion: Clinically diagnosed tetanus can be easily recognized and immediately treated. Most of the early complaints are head and neck symptoms that can help in early diagnosis and treatment resulting in better prognosis. In particular, trismus and neck pain/rigidity may predict the outcome of decannulation after early tracheotomy, but not of discharge and mortality.
tracheotomy ; tetanus ; trismus ; Neck Pain ; Muscle Rigidity

OBJECTIVES: Patients with bilateral vocal fold paralysis (BVFP) theoretically have difficulty producing voiceless consonants. However, perceptual studies have revealed clear production of voiceless consonants with good articulation scores in nontracheostomized patients. The purpose of this study was to clarify the production of voiceless stops during articulation in patients with BVFP compared to normal speakers. METHODS: The perceptual, acoustic, and aerodynamic characteristics of patients with BVFP and those with normal speech were investigated with special reference to voiceless stop consonants. Test words were prepared to place the stop consonants in different phonological environments, and were all nonsense words. RESULTS: The patients with BVFP perceptually produced the three types of stops successfully. However, they acoustically varied voice onset time to produce phonetically representative stops but decreased voice onset time of /ph/ and /p/ compared to those of normal speakers. These patients may properly control air pressure to produce the three types of stop consonants similar to normal speakers. CONCLUSION: The patients with BVFP realized the distinctions between the three types of stops similar to the normal speakers. Although vocal mobility was absent in the patients with BVFP, voice onset time, vowel duration, closure duration, and air pressure were similar to those of normal speakers.
Acoustics ; Air Pressure ; Humans ; Paralysis* ; Tracheotomy* ; Vocal Cords* ; Voice

This morphometric study of the trachea was performed to provide the basic data necessary for shielding crico-thyroid membrane incision, tracheal intubation and tracheotomy in korean bodies 48 (33 male, 15 female). Tracheal measurement included the number, the length, the anteroposterior and transverse diameters of trachea, and the height of tracheal cartilages, and the inter-rings distances of cartilages. The length of trachea was 104.0+/-1.4 mm in male and 102.3+/-1.9 mm in female, but there was no significance between males and females. All of the anteroposterior and transverse diameters, and the height were longer in males, compared with females, in the first, fifth, tenth and fifteenth tracheal cartilages. The anteroposterior and transverse diameters of the first and fifteenth tracheal rings, and the height of the first tracheal ring differed significantly male's from female's. The distances between posterior end of rings of the first, tenth and fifteenth tracheal cartilages were broader in males. The inter-rings distances of tracheal cartilage were also wider in the male, and showed significant differences in the 1st~2nd and 10~11th. These results suggest that this might be useful as a clinical basic data for the emergency physician, anesthetist, and associated medical doct
Cadaver ; Cartilage ; Emergencies ; Female ; Humans ; Intubation ; Male ; Membranes ; Trachea* ; Tracheotomy

It can be challenging to create a safe airway in maxilla facial fracture and some skull surgeries. In this case study, the patient experienced jaw fractures that disturbed the dental occlusion and associated fracture of the base of the skull. Neither nasal nor oral intubation was possible based on the side effects of tracheotomy; therefore, submental intubation was applied successfully. The procedure and results are presented in the text.
Dental Occlusion ; Humans ; Intubation* ; Jaw Fractures ; Maxilla ; Skull ; Tracheotomy

Adenoma, Pleomorphic ; surgery ; Humans ; Trachea ; Tracheal Neoplasms ; surgery ; Tracheotomy