Iatrogenic tracheal rent: When oxygen supply was cut off by the surgeon!

Abstract

Airways of postradiotherapy and postchemotherapy female oncosurgical patients on steroid therapy are devitalized and any airway handling in such patients commands caution. We report a case of a large iatrogenic tracheal rent occurring during manipulation of a flexometallic tube through a tracheostomy stoma created in a patient with postcricoid carcinoma undergoing esophagectomy and gastric pull-up surgery. The timely detection, emergent, and postoperative management strategies are discussed below.

Keywords

• Esophagectomy
• iatrogenic tracheal rent
• postcricoid cancer
• tracheostomy
• ventilatory management