Perioperative management of tracheobronchial injury following blunt trauma

Abstract

We describe tracheobronchial injury (TBI) in a 17-year-old teenager following blunt trauma resulting from a road traffic accident. The patient presented to a peripheral hospital with swelling over the neck and face associated with bilateral pneumothorax for which bilateral intercostal drains were inserted and the patient was transferred to our institute. Fiber-optic videobronchoscopy (FOB) was performed, the trachea and bronchi were visualized, and the site and extent of injury was assessed. Spontaneous respiration was maintained till assessment of the airway. Then the patient was anesthetized with propofol and paralyzed using succinylcholine and a double-lumen endobronchial tube was inserted; thereafter, the adequacy of controlled manual ventilation and air-leak through intercostal drains was assessed and the patient was transferred to operating room (OR) for repair of the airway injury. The OR was kept ready during FOB to manage any catastrophe. This case describes the need for proper preparation and communication between health care team members to manage all possible scenarios of traumatic TBI.