Dangers of neonatal intubation with the Cole tube.

Tracheal intubation is an accepted part of modern neonatal intensive care. Although basically a safe procedure, it is not without complications.' Subglottic stenosis is the most serious of these with a reported incidence in one series of 2-6% in long term survivors of tracheal intubation.2 Reports have repeatedly drawn attention to the high incidence of subglottic stenosis after tracheal intubation with a Cole pattern shouldered tracheal tube.34 Despite these reports this tube is still widely used, particularly by non-anaesthetists.