Canadian Journal of Anesthesia, Vol 28, 89-89, Copyright © 1981 by Canadian Anesthesiologists' Society

Corps Etranger Dans Les Voies Aeriennes Par Eclatement D'Un Ballonnet De Tube Tracheal

¹ Hotel-Dieu de Levis, 143 Rue Wolfe, Levis, Quebec, Canada G6V 3Z1

Microsurgery of the larynx imposes the necessity to employ a small calibre treacheal tube. To obtain an air-tight seal with the cuff it is sometimes necessary to use large volumes of air and high pressure to distend the cuff. Rupture of the cuff is an accepted risk. Such a rupture usually results in a simple tear in the cuff.

A man 45 years of age was intubated with a new 4.5 mm tracheal tube for microsurgery for a papilloma of the vocal cord. The cuff ruptured and a fragment of cuff one cm in diameter was left as a foreign body in the airway. (Figure) This was recovered by bronchosopy. A similar occurrence has been reported with a tube which had been resterilised several times,¹ but not previously when a new tube was used. A small tracheal tube with a large volume cuff which has recently been described² for use in microlaryngoscopy will hopefully eliminate the problems of rupture of the cuff.