Anesthesia and Pain Medicine  2015;10(1):32-35

doi:10.17085/apm.2015.10.1.32

Tracheal injury as a perforation of a newly formed tracheal diverticulum after tracheal intubation: A case report.

Yoo KANG 1 ; Yong Kyung LEE ; Hong Sik LEE ; Young Keun CHAE ; Sang eun LEE ; Jinhye MIN

Affiliations

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Keywords

Airway; Diverticulum; Intubation; Pneumomediastinum; Subcutaneous emphysema; Trachea

Country

Republic of Korea

Language

Korean

Abstract

Although tracheal injury after tracheal intubation has been reported often, the formation of acquired tracheal diverticulum as the complications of intubation has not been reported before. In a 57-year-old woman, emergency coil embolization was performed for the treatment of a ruptured cerebral aneurysm. Then, the over-ballooning of an endotracheal tube cuff and deep intubation were observed on a chest X-ray. So, the tube was re-ballooned and re-positioned before surgery. Five hours after extubation in the intensive care unit at postoperative 5 days, a perforation of the tracheal diverticulum wall, leading to subcutaneous emphysema around her neck and pneumomediastinum, was diagnosed using CT and bronchoscopy. The cause of the tracheal diverticulum was suspected over-ballooning of the endotracheal tube cuff because the diverticulum site and size were the same as those of the over-ballooning cuff.