Tuberc Respir Dis.  2007 May;62(5):437-440.

A Case of Tracheostomy Induced Bilateral Tension Pneumothorax

Affiliations
  • 1Departments of Internal Medicine, Hallym University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. thoraxmd@hallym.or.kr

Abstract

Tracheostomy is one of the oldest surgical procedures in medical history. The indications for a tracheostomy include the relief of an upper airway obstruction, long-term mechanical ventilation, and decreased airway resistance to help wean the patient from mechanical ventilator support. Unfortunately, tracheostomy is also associated with a number of problems including, bleeding, infection, pneumothorax, and tracheal stenosis. A pneumothorax is an uncommon complication of a tracheostomy, and can result from direct injury to the pleura or positive pressure ventilation through a dislocation of the tracheostomy tube. We report an uncommon case of a tracheostomy-induced bilateral tension pneumothorax with a review of the literature.

Keyword

Tracheostomy; Tension pneumothorax

MeSH Terms

Airway Obstruction
Airway Resistance
Dislocations
Hemorrhage
Humans
Pleura
Pneumothorax*
Positive-Pressure Respiration
Respiration, Artificial
Tracheal Stenosis
Tracheostomy*
Ventilators, Mechanical

Figure

  • Figure 1 Chest radiography shows

  • Figure 2 After tracheostomy, chest bilateral pneumonic infiltrates. radiography shows bilateral pneumothorax and subcutaneous emphysema.

  • Figure 3 Chest radiography after tube

  • Figure 4 Follow up film at 10 days thoracostomy. after tracheostomy shows resolving subcutaneous emphysema.


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