Anesth Pain Med.  2015 Jan;10(1):32-35. 10.17085/apm.2015.10.1.32.

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

• Kang Y
• Lee YK
• Lee HS
• Chae YK
• Lee SE
• Min J

• KMID: 2148055
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.17085/apm.2015.10.1.32

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.

Keyword

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

MeSH Terms

Bronchoscopy
Diverticulum*
Embolization, Therapeutic
Emergencies
Female
Humans
Intensive Care Units
Intracranial Aneurysm
Intubation*
Mediastinal Emphysema
Middle Aged
Neck
Subcutaneous Emphysema
Thorax
Trachea