Bronchoscopic Removal of Broken Endotracheal Tube

Abstract

A 75 years old male was admitted to thoracic surgery department with a foreign body in the airway. He was mechanically ventilated in the intensive care unit follow-up period. During weaning, when sedative agents were stopped, the endotracheal tube was damaged by patient bite. Suddenly after extubation, it was observed that only the proximal part of the tube was removed. Despite this, the patient was still conscious and breathing spontaneously. The radiological evaluation revealed that the distal part of the tube was lying through the bronchus intermedius from the subglottic region. We report a case of broken and totally separated endotracheal tube which distal part was removed by rigid bronchoscopy.