We conducted a prospective survey on the incidence of respiratory complications associated with tracheal intubation and extubation in 1005 patients who underwent elective general anaesthesia over a 4-month period. During induction of anaesthesia, respiratory complications occurred in 46 patients (4.6%; 95% confidence limits (CL): 3.3, 5.9%). The common complications were coughing (1.5%) and dif...

Excessive dynamic airway collapse (EDAC) is a disease entity of excessive reduction of the central airway diameter during exhalation, without cartilage collapse. An 80-year-old female presented with generalized edema and dyspnea at our hospital. The patient was in a state of acute decompensated heart failure due to pneumonia with respiratory failure. We accordingly managed the patient with rena...

INTRODUCTION To assess the safety and feasibility of recruiting mechanically ventilated patients with brain injury who are solely intubated for airway protection and randomising them into early or delayed extubation, and to obtain estimates to refine sample-size calculations for a larger study. The design is a single-blinded block randomised controlled trial. A single large academic medical cen...

Airway management in craniofacial trauma patients is a challenge for an anesthetist. Treating these patients requires a close interdisciplinary communication and cooperation. Maintaining the airway and oxygenation of the patient is the initial challenge in craniofacial trauma patients. The management of the difficult airway is facilitated and patient's safety improved by following one of severa...

Nasopharyngeal encephalocele is a rare, benign congenital anomaly. It has the potential to be fatal due to airway obstruction. Here, we report on a 34-day-old infant with pneumonia who underwent mechanical ventilation. An upper airway evaluation was performed due to prolonged intubation, and revealed the presence of a nasopharyngeal encephalocele. The patient tolerated extubation and oral feedi...

Developing guidelines for the role of the physiotherapist in neonatal and pediatric intensive care units is essential because these professionals are responsible for the rehabilitation of critically ill patients. Rehabilitation includes the evaluation and prevention of functional kinetic alterations, application of treatment interventions (respiratory and/or motor physiotherapy), control and ap...

BACKGROUND Timing and preparation for tracheal extubation are as critical as the initial intubation. There are limited data on specific strategies for a planned extubation. The extent to which the difficult airway at reintubation contributes to patient morbidity is unknown. The aim of the present study was to describe the occurrence and complications of failed extubation and associated risk fa...

BACKGROUND Atelectasis is known to develop during anaesthesia and after operation atelectasis leads to impaired oxygenation. Lung recruitment manoeuvres, positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP), and continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) have been proposed for reduction of atelectasis but their benefits have not been shown to persist after operation. We proposed that a combination of these ...

AIM The purpose of this study was to determine the incidence of reintubation due to upper airway obstruction in a homogeneous group of ventilated infants with Respiratory Syncytial Virus bronchiolitis. Our secondary objective was to determine whether prophylactic administration of dexamethasone prior to extubation was associated with decreased risk of reintubation. METHODS This retrospective ...

BACKGROUND Tracheal extubations may be performed before or after awakening from anaesthesia. The advantage of extubation during anaesthesia may avoid all the unpleasant effects of fully awake extubation such as severe hypertension and tachycardia, malignant dysrhythmias, myocardial ischemia laryngospasm, and cough induced high intraocular and intracranial pressure. AIM To show the current pra...