Complication of the transtracheal catheter

Epidural catheter complication.

The 2-part Education News column, “Upgrading nurse anesthesia educational requirements (1933-2006)” by Betty Horton, CRNA, PhD, was very timely and informative.1,2 Dr Horton succinctly chronicled the historical development of our educational standards and how the consistent elevation of those standards reflects a sustained commitment to excellence. Over the past 2 years, I have practiced anesth...

Tracheal perforation. A complication associated with transtracheal oxygen therapy.

A 73-year-old woman with a transtracheal oxygen catheter in place developed sudden onset of respiratory distress and subcutaneous emphysema. Bronchoscopy revealed the presence of three posterior tracheal wall perforations and a blind pouch arising from one of the perforations. Subsequent bronchoscopies revealed complete healing of the perforations. We believe that these perforations occurred du...

Transtracheal catheter ventilation: clinical experience in 36 patients.

Long term continuous domiciliary oxygen therapy by transtracheal catheter.

Long term continuous oxygen therapy improves prognosis in patients with hypoxaemic chronic airflow limitation. Transtracheal delivery of oxygen permits adequate oxygenation of such patients at lower flow rates than are required for delivery by nasal cannulas, thus increasing the time for which portable oxygen cylinders can be used and improving the efficacy of domiciliary oxygen concentrators i...

A new transtracheal catheter for ventilation and resuscitation.

We describe a new catheter for emergency ventilation of patients difficult to intubate. This catheter can be inserted through the crico-thyroid membrane or the first or second intertracheal ringspace with ease in an almost atraumatic fashion. The outside part of the device, with its dual attachment system, can be connected to conventional resuscitation equipment by its 15 mm male end or to a hi...