Persistent tracheal dilatation: onset after brief mechanical ventilation with a "soft-cuff" endotracheal tube.
Persistent tracheal dilatation, a sign of severe tracheal damage, has been reported in the past primarily as a complication of prolonged mechanical ventilation through high-pressure, low-compliance cuffs of tracheostomy and endotracheal tubes. A case is presented in which a 26-year-old man developed severe tracheal dilatation with a soft-cuff endotracheal tube beginning four days after intubation, which persisted despite only eight total days of intubation and mechanical ventilation. The pathogenesis and possible prevention of this complication are reviewed.
D000328:Adult; D004108:Dilatation, Pathologic; D006801:Humans; D007442:Intubation, Intratracheal / Q000009:adverse effects*; D008297:Male; D012121:Respiration, Artificial; D014133:Tracheal Diseases / Q000209:etiology* / Q000517:prevention & control