Case Report Case Report of Multiple Tracheostomy Revisions due to Persistent, Recurrent Cuff Leak

This case is a patient with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis who was unable to be separated from mechanical ventilator support and required a tracheostomy. The patient underwent an initial open tracheostomy utilizing flexible fiberoptic tracheoscopy (FFT) in the operating room (OR). Subsequently, he developed recurrent leaks in the tracheal tube cuff requiring multiple trips back to the operating room. The recurrent cuff leak occurred following each tube placement until the etiology of the leak was discovered during the fourth procedure. In the fourth procedure, the wound was explored more extensively, and it was found that there was a sharp, calcified, aberrant fragment of a tracheal cartilage ring protruding into the tracheal lumen, which was damaging the cuff of each tube. This fragment was not visible by multiple FFTs, nor was it visible in the wound by the surgeons until wider exploration of the wound occurred. The cartilage fragment was ultimately excised and the patient had no further cuff leaks. Aberrant tracheal cartilage should be on the differential diagnosis for cuff leaks subsequent to surgical tracheostomy (ST) or percutaneous dilatational tracheostomy (PDT)

Case Report of Multiple Tracheostomy Revisions due to Persistent, Recurrent Cuff Leak

This case is a patient with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis who was unable to be separated from mechanical ventilator support and required a tracheostomy. The patient underwent an initial open tracheostomy utilizing flexible fiberoptic tracheoscopy (FFT) in the operating room (OR). Subsequently, he developed recurrent leaks in the tracheal tube cuff requiring multiple trips back to the operating room. The recurrent cuff leak occurred following each tube placement until the etiology of the leak was discovered during the fourth procedure. In the fourth procedure, the wound was explored more extensively, and it was found that there was a sharp, calcified, aberrant fragment of a tracheal cartilage ring protruding into the tracheal lumen, which was damaging the cuff of each tube. This fragment was not visible by multiple FFTs, nor was it visible in the wound by the surgeons until wider exploration of the wound occurred. The cartilage fragment was ultimately excised and the patient had no further cuff leaks. Aberrant tracheal cartilage should be on the differential diagnosis for cuff leaks subsequent to surgical tracheostomy (ST) or percutaneous dilatational tracheostomy (PDT)

The preventive effects of posterior pericardiotomy on atrial fibrillation after elective coronary artery bypass grafting

"n 800x600 Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE AR-SA MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";} Background: Atrial fibrillation is the most common but benign arrhythmia following cardiac surgery. Although this arrhythmia is often self-limited and vanishes in about 24 hours upon surgery; a number of arrhythmias might ensue among which some might be really life-threatening. A multitude of therapeutic modalities have been proposed for the prevention of this arrhythmia and one of them is posterior pericardiotomy. This method has not been fully accepted by the peers yet and more studies are needed to prove its efficacy and benefits to the patients."n"nMethods: In this single-blind randomized clinical trial, done over a 2-year period from February 2009 to January 2011, the effects of posterior pericardiotomy were evaluated in 174 patients (87 the case and 87 the control groups) undergoing elective coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). The case group underwent CABG with posterior pericardiotomy while the control group underwent CABG-only operation. The post-operative incidence of arrhythmia, especially atrial fibrillation, was assessed for a week using statistical methods."n"nResults: The prevalence of postoperative atrial fibrillations were fewer in the group undergoing CABG with posterior pericardiotomy compared with the CABG-only group (P<0.004)."n"nConclusion: Posterior pericardiotomy seems to reduce the incidence of atrial fibrillation following elective CABG; therefore, its application is suggested for elective CABGs