Surgical Repair of a Traumatic Tracheobronchial Injury in a Pediatric Patient Assisted with Venoarterial Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation

Abstract

Tracheobronchial rupture due to blunt chest trauma is a rare but life-threatening injury in the pediatric population. Computed tomography (CT) is not always reliable in the management of these patients. An additional concern is that ventilation may be disrupted during surgical repair of these injuries. This report presents t he c ase of a 4 -year-old boy w ith an i njury to t he l ower t rachea a nd c arina due to b lunt f orce t rauma that was missed on the initial CT scan. During surgery, he was administered venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). Although ECMO is not generally used in children, this case demonstrated that the short-term use of ECMO during pediatric surgery is safe and can prevent intraoperative desaturation.

Keywords

• Tracheobronchial injury
• Pediatric
• Blunt trauma
• Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation