Bilateral pneumothorax as a complication of changing tracheostomy tube
Kundranda, R.M.; Trochtenberg, D.S.
Tennessee Medicine Journal of the Tennessee Medical Association 96(5): 225-226
2003
ISSN/ISBN: 1088-6222 PMID: 12774685 Document Number: 553739
A 43-year-old man with adult respiratory distress syndrome, secondary to pneumonia, developed bilateral pneumothorax on the fifth post-tracheostomy day, when the tracheostomy tube was being changed to a larger size tube in order to control bleeding from the tracheostomy site. This case demonstrates the potential danger of changing the tube in the postoperative period.