Tracheal Transection After Prolonged Intubation and Tracheostomy

A Case Report

Yousef, Andrew MD
Boys, Joshua A. MD
Makani, Samir MD
Kolb, Frederic MD
Weissbrod, Philip A. MD

¹Department of Otolaryngology, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
²Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Department of Surgery, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
³Department of Medicine, Scripps Encinitas, Encinitas, CA, USA
⁴Division of Plastic Surgery, Department of Surgery, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA

Philip A. Weissbrod, MD, Department of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery, 8899 University Center Ln, San Diego, CA 92122, USA. Email: [email protected]

Received April 13, 2023

Received in revised form May 7, 2023

Accepted May 9, 2023

Ear, Nose & Throat Journal 102(9_suppl):p 12S-15S, September 2023. | DOI: 10.1177/01455613231178111

Tracheal transection is a rare, life-threatening complication after tracheal injury. Most commonly, tracheal transection presents after blunt trauma, but iatrogenic tracheal transection after tracheotomy has not been well described. Here, we present a case without a history of trauma that presented with signs of symptoms of tracheal stenosis. She was taken to the operating room for tracheal resection and anastomosis and was incidentally found to have a complete tracheal transection intraoperatively.