Articles: intubation.
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Comparative Study
Development and severity of palatal grooves in orally intubated newborns. Effect of 'soft' endotracheal tubes.
A prospective, blinded study of neonates orally intubated with either standard or "soft" endotracheal tubes included 57 infants in the standard "hard" tube group and 46 infants in the soft tube group. Infants were further divided by birth weights above and below 1,000 g. ⋯ Neither the incidence nor the severity of palatal groove formation was influenced by the use of the soft tube. However, in three cases the soft tube had to be abandoned due to technical difficulties with intubation.
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Airway control in patients with suspected laryngotracheal injury following blunt trauma is a challenging problem. Tracheostomy remains the treatment of choice in most instances. This report describes a patient with a laryngotracheal injury in whom initial airway control was achieved using orotracheal intubation. The indications for this method are discussed, and an approach to initial airway management in these injuries is outlined.
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Oesophageal perforation, due to a difficult endotracheal or nasogastric intubation occurred in a 49-year-old female. Perforation of the oesophagus is a rare complication of intubation of the trachea or oesophagus. Endotracheal intubation alone is most often blamed for iatrogenic oesophageal trauma following surgery. ⋯ Plain roentenograms of the neck and a contrast media swallow will confirm the diagnosis. Treatment consists of massive antibiotic therapy followed by surgical repair and drainage of the area. Mortality ranges from 10-15 per cent with early diagnosis to 50 per cent if surgery is delayed.