BACKGROUND The use of cuffed tracheal tubes (TTs) in small children is still controversial. The aim of this study was to compare post-extubation morbidity and TT exchange rates when using cuffed vs uncuffed tubes in small children. METHODS Patients aged from birth to 5 yr requiring general anaesthesia with TT intubation were included in 24 European paediatric anaesthesia centres. Patients wer...

Sixty infants (median gestational age 29 weeks) with acute and 60 infants (median gestational age 25 weeks) with chronic respiratory distress were randomised to be extubated either directly into a headbox or onto 3 cm H2O nasal continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP). Our aim was to test the hypothesis that extubation onto nasal CPAP rather than directly into a headbox was more likely to be ...

Endotracheal intubation and extubation in intensive care unit (ICU) patients are difficult. Extubation will be more worrisome if patient has difficult intubation, sleep apnea, surgical procedure involving airway or surrounding structures. In such extubation airway exchange catheters (AEC) are used, as they are simple to use and able to provide oxygen to the patient. Rarely AEC use can cause pot...

Significant swelling of the thyroid compromising the airway can be a challenging situation when combined thyroidectomy and cardiac surgery is planned. Induction, intubation, intraoperative management, and extubation require special attention in such cases.

Central airway collapse plays a significant, underrecognized role in respiratory failure after extubation of critically ill patients. Historically, airway collapse has been attributed to tracheomalacia (TM), softening of the cartilage in the trachea and other large airways. More recently, excessive dynamic airway collapse (EDAC) has been described as a distinct process unrelated to a loss of ca...

OBJECTIVE A systematic review of weaning and extubation for pediatric patients on mechanical ventilation. DATA SELECTION Pediatric and adult literature, English language. STUDY SELECTION Invited review. DATA SOURCES Literature review using National Library of Medicine PubMed from January 1972 until April 2008, earlier cross-referenced article citations, the Cochrane Database of Systematic...

OBJECTIVE To analyze the method and the effect of airway intervention before tracheal extubation in post-anesthesia cure unit (PACU) after anesthesia when removing the tonsil under general anesthesia and adenoidectomy under nasal endoscope on children with snoring. PATIENTS AND METHODS 46 cases diagnosed as snoring were executively selected in this study. The cases were randomly divided into ...