CLINICAL CASES   

Otorinolaringologia 2001 December;51(4):165-8

Copyright © 2009 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: Italian

Closed trauma of the trachea. A case of “out-burst” lesion in a child

Molteni G., Colombo L., Spinelli R. *, Cirla A. **

Azienda Ospedaliera S. Anna - Como *U.O. di Otorinolaringoiatria **U.O. di Radiologia

The case of a 9-year-old patient who, after accidentally falling from his bicycle, suffered a trauma in the anterior cervical region with multiple fractures, is described. For the diagnosis of the injuries both the TC system and bronchoscopes with flexible optical fibres can be used. The seriousness of the symptomatology and the need to restore the patency of the respiratory tract in many cases require the intubation of the patient using an oro-tracheal tube and in many others a tracheotomy. As in the case described, a tracheotomy is needed both for restoring the airways and for repairing the cervical laryngeal-tracheal injuries, thus fostering the possible and repeated bronchoscopical controls needed to assess the evolution of the injuries. Such controls are required to test the progressive repairing of the injuries through tracheotomy. This approach is far less traumatic rather than bronchoscopies passing through the oral cavity especially if carried out every day on very young patients.