Abstract
This retrospective study was performed to elucidate the incidence and cause of so-called airway tube trouble which is directly related to endotracheal intubation. Were viewed 7174 anesthesia records and tube trouble was documented in 59 patients (0.8%). Among these, cuff leakage was most prevalent and was observed in 22 patients. Most of the cuff damage occured during endotracheal in tubation. In 9 patients, obstruction of McGill type endotracheal tube was observed and this was related to the rotation of patient head. Under one-lung anesthesia, hypoventilation, which originated from malpositioning of the endobronchial tube, occured in 9 patients. Airway obstructions induced by kinking of endotracheal tube and herniation of the over-inflated cuff were observed in 5 and 3 patients, respectively.
These results suggest that most of the airway trouble is preventable by careful placement of the endotracheal tube, proper cuff inflation and head positioning, and by understanding characteristics of the specially. made endobronchial tubes.
