Case report                                                               UDC: 616.23-001-089.819.3-06:616-073.7                                                                                                            doi:10.5633/amm.2015.0108

   

 

The role of multislice computed tomography in the emergency diagnosis of the tracheobronchial injury after endotracheal intubation - Case report

 Aleksandar Karanikolić^1,2, Zoran Damnjanović³, Vesna Karanikolić⁴, Ivan Pešić²,
 Biljana Stošić^1,5, Toplica Bojić²

  

University of Niš, Faculty of Medicine, Niš, Serbia¹

General Surgery Clinic, Clinical Canter Niš, Serbia²

Vascular Surgery Clinic, Clinical Center Niš, Serbia³

Clinic of Dermatovenerology, Clinical Center Niš, Serbia⁴

Department of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care, Clinical Center Niš, Serbia⁵

 

                         Aleksandar Karanikolić, General Surgery Clinic, Clinical Center of Niš, Serbia
                         Bul. dr Zorana Đinđića 48, 18000 Niš, Serbia,
                         e-mail: pean@ptt.rs

 

Tracheobronchial injury (TBI) is a rare complication occurring after endotracheal intubation.  Treatment can be conservative for small lesions and when the patient’s condition is stable, or surgical for bigger lesions and when pneumomediastinum and/or subcutaneous emphysema threaten the patient’s life. Total thyroidectomy was performed in a 60-year-old woman with multinodular goiter. Ten hours after surgery, subcutaneous emphysema of the face and neck developed. A cervical and thoracic multislice computed tomography (MSCT) confirmed subcutaneous emphysema, pneumomediastinum, and posterior wall tracheal rupture 2cm in size. The patient was treated conservatively. The MSCT imaging can be a useful method for diagnosing the location and form of tracheal injury in hemodynamically stable patients. Acta Medica Medianae 2015;54(1): 53-55.

 

Key words: multislice computed tomography, endotracheal intubation, tracheobronchial lacerations