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Updated: Aug 14, 2026

A Novel Rescue Technique for Difficult Intubation and Difficult Ventilation
Published on: January 17, 2011
[Complication of tracheal intubation: severe cervical cellulitis]
R Alharrar1, M Rachidi, D Hamoudi
1Service de Réanimation des Urgences Chirurgicales, CHU Ibn-Rochd, Casablanca, Maroc. ralharrar@yahoo.fr
Abstract:
A 40-year-old man, victim of a traffic accident has been hospitalized for a severe head trauma. His trachea has been intubated under general anaesthesia with an 8.0 mm ID tube (Vygon). The cerebral scan revealed a surgical subdural haematoma. In the postoperative period, the patient was admitted in surgical intensive care, under sedation and mechanically ventilation. At day 12 the patient developed a cervical cellulitis complicated of a septic shock. The cervical scan showed an important dilatation of the trachea in the site of the tube cuff. The surgical exploration discovered a complete destruction of the anterior face of de trachea on several centimetres of height. The patient died 24 hours later by multiple organ failure.
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