Tracheal laceration found after endotracheal general anesthesia : A case report

Yoon, Young Chul; Kim, Seok Jai; Jeong, Cheol Won; Bae, Hong Beom; Kwak, Sang Hyun

Case Report

General Article

Anesthesia and Pain Medicine 2009;4(1):83-86.
Published online January 30, 2009.

Tracheal laceration found after endotracheal general anesthesia : A case report

Young Chul Yoon, Seok Jai Kim, Cheol Won Jeong, Hong Beom Bae, Sang Hyun Kwak

Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Chonnam National University Medical School, Gwangju, Korea. seokjkim@chonnam.ac.kr

Abstract

Tracheal laceration is a rare complication after endotracheal intubation with an estimated incidence of 1:10,000. We present a case of tracheal laceration after general anesthesia with endotracheal intubation. A 63-year-old woman underwent ureteroscopic stone removal under the general anesthesia. She had history of treatment for hypertension and DM for 10 years. Surgery, anesthesia and recovery phase were uneventful. Postoperative first day, patient complained chest discomfort and chest radiography showed the clinical diagnosis of marked subcutaneous emphysema and pneumomediastinum. Postoperative second day, chest CT scan revealed laceration of the posterior tracheal wall extending from the middle of the trachea to the level of 5 cm above carina. Surgical repair was done. We review risk factors, diagnosis and principles of treatment of this lesion.

Key Words: endotracheal intubation, pneumomediastinum, subcutaneous emphysema, tracheal laceration