1991 Volume 13 Issue 5 Pages 512-517
A successful fiberscopic treatment with fibrin glue for tracheal injury is shown in this report. A forceful endotracheal intubation in a case of acute respiratory failure resulted in a longitudinal tear at the membranous portion of the lower trachea in a 60-year-old woman. She was referred to the Intensive Care Unit of our hospital with severe pneumothorax and mediastinal emphysema. It was impossible to perform an emergency operation because of her severely ill condition. Closure of the tear could be accomplished by applying fibrin glue through a fiberoptic bronchoscope, which was carried out twice. At the second trial, the procedure was successfuly done by setting an inflated Sengstaken-Brakemore tube in esophagus immediately behind the tracheal laceration. We recommend that fibrin glue application through the bronchofiberscope might be a useful treatment, which avoids major thoracic surgery, for acute tracheal laceration in severely ill patient.
