[Partial tracheal rupture in a newborn infant. A rare traumatic birth complication or intubation sequela?]

The neonate was born with the help of vacuum extraction because of difficult delivery of the shoulders. After birth respiratory distress developed and endotracheal intubation and artificial ventilation became necessary. When the tube was changed in the intensive care unit the infant's clinical status suddenly deteriorated. A rupture of the trachea was diagnosed immediately followed by surgery. The child survived without neurological sequelae. The chronological sequence of symptoms after birth suggests that the rupture of the trachea primarily developed during delivery and was secondarily enlarged by repeated endotracheal intubation.