Skin avulsion injury during endotracheal tube extubation – case report of an unusual complication

We report a geriatric case with a full-thickness skin avulsion injury during extubation due to a tube securing tape used to fixate the endotracheal tube. The avulsed skin was sutured back to its original place. Based on this single geriatric patient, we recommend anesthesiologists/anesthetists and surgeons be aware of the potential risk of avulsing the skin with tape during a standard extubation procedure. This may especially occur in geriatric patients who have age related changes as decreased elasticity and resistance to shearing forces that predispose the skin to get traumatized easily.