Leaking endotracheal tube cuffs are common problems in intensive care units. Repairing the leak is preferable to reintubation when patients have difficult airways, are hemodynamically unstable, or have been receiving high levels of PEEP Although endotracheal tube cuff leaks may result from a ruptured cuff balloon, the more common cause is an incompetent pilot balloon valve. Boussard et have rec...

The complications due to airway equipments remain to be one of the most challenging situations for the anesthesiologists. Any part of an endotracheal tube may cause a risk when it leads to an obstruction in the airway. Here, we present an increased airway pressure due to herniation of inflating tube of the cuff inside an armored (wire reinforced) endotracheal tube during neurosurgery in prone p...

BACKGROUND. Investigators report endotracheal tube misplacement in up to 40% of emergent intubations. The standard elements of confirmation have significant limitations. Diaphragmatic ultrasound is a potentially viable addition to the confirmatory process. Our primary hypothesis is that ultrasound is equivalent to chest radiography in determining endotracheal tube position within the airway in ...

Case 3 is a rare congenital abnormality of the inner ear which usually presents as recurrent meningitis. This abnormality is now well documented.4 It should be suspected as a cause of recurrent meningitis in a child who has a sensorineural deafness. The presence of fluid behind the tympanic membrane should make one suspicious and the diagnosis can be confirmed by tomograms of the inner ear. The...

Intratracheal combustion of a fiberoptic bronchoscope and an endotracheal tube occurred during the treatment of severe tracheal stenosis with the neodymium-YAG laser. This recognized hazard of CO2 laser surgery has not been reported previously with the use of the Nd-YAG laser. Fire hazard is inevitable when a laser is used in the airway, but the risk can be diminished. Rapid removal of the burn...

BACKGROUND Pre-hospital paediatric airway management is complex. A variety of pitfalls need prompt response to establish and maintain adequate ventilation and oxygenation. Anatomical disparity render laryngoscopy different compared to the adult. The correct choice of endotracheal tube size and depth of insertion is not trivial and often challenged due to the initially unknown age of child. ME...

Postoperative sore throat occurs in up to 90% of intubated patients and is the most common complaint of patients after endotracheal intubation. A recent study suggested that the use of lidocaine to inflate the endotracheal tube cuff would decrease the incidence of postoperative sore throat. The purpose of this prospective randomized study was to compare the incidence and severity of sore throat...

Background/objectives: Plummer-Vinson syndrome also known as sideropenic dysphagia is a disease characterized by chronic iron-deficiency anemia, dysphagia and esophageal web. It commonly affects white female in the 4th to 7th decade. Most of the dysphagia and iron deficiency can be treated by iron supplementation and rarely web dilatation is needed. Setting: Department of ENT, Head and Neck Sur...

We encountered a case of a rupture of an endotracheal tube cuff during robot-assisted thyroid surgery in a 35-year-old male patient. Two hours after commencing surgery, the bellows of the ventilator were not filled and a rupture of the endotracheal tube cuff was suspected. Once the robot-manipulator is engaged, the position of the operating table cannot be altered without removing it from the p...