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Updated: Sep 30, 2026

The Rigid Tube as an Alternative in Controlling the Problematic Airway
Published on: June 6, 2020
Tracheal esophageal combitube: a useful airway for morbidly obese patients who cannot intubate or ventilate
A Della Puppa1, G Pittoni, M Frass
1Department of Anesthesia, Intensive Care Unit, Ospedale San Martino, Belluno, Italy. andrea.dellapuppa@libero.it
Abstract:
The tracheal esophageal combitube has been successfully used in many difficult airway circumstances. We report the dramatic case of a morbidly obese patient with a well-known difficult airway who was successfully rescued from a cannot ventilate-cannot intubate situation in our critical care unit by using the tracheal esophageal combitube. Surgical tracheostomy was performed while she was mechanically ventilated through the tracheal esophageal combitube. The tracheal esophageal combitube is a very important device that should be kept available in all cases of morbidly obese airway management.
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