title: Fractured tracheostomy tube presenting as a foreign body in a paediatric patient.
abstract: Tracheostomy tube fracture and aspiration into the tracheobronchial tree leading to airway obstruction is a dangerous complication after tracheostomy. We report a case of a fractured tracheostomy tube in a 6-year-old child who had been maintained on a tracheostomy tube for the past 5 years. The tracheostomy tube got fractured at the junction of the tube and neck plate, and impacted in the trachea and right main bronchus. Rigid bronchoscopy performed through the tracheostomy stoma to retrieve the fractured tracheostomy tube and the anaesthetic management during the period are discussed.
authors.affiliation: JIPMER, Pondicherry, Puducherry, India.
authors.forename: Suman Lata
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.affiliation: Department of Anaesthesiology, Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research, Pondicherry, Pondicherry, India.
authors.forename: Srinivasan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Swaminathan
authors.affiliation: Department of Anaesthesiology, Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research, Pondicherry, Pondicherry, India.
authors.forename: Ravivalar
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ramya
authors.affiliation: Department of Anaesthesiology, Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research, Pondicherry, Pondicherry, India.
authors.forename: Satyen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Parida
mesh_terms: D000402:Airway Obstruction / Q000209:etiology; D001980:Bronchi / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D001999:Bronchoscopy; D002648:Child; D020878:Device Removal; D004868:Equipment Failure; D005548:Foreign-Body Migration / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D013902:Radiography, Thoracic; D014139:Tracheostomy / Q000295:instrumentation*