Imperatore Francesco, Diurno Francesco, Passannanti Tito, Mora Bruno, Romano Luiga, Occhiochiuso Luigi
Unit of Anesthesia and Intensive Care, Department of Emergency, A. Cardarelli Hospital, Naples, Italy.
MedGenMed. 2003 Feb 18;5(1):31.
The standard tracheostomy technique, described in 1909 by Jackson, has been increasingly used in intensive care units. Since 1957, several different types of percutaneous tracheostomy techniques have been described and performed with the support of bronchoscopic transillumination. The authors present the case of a respiratory failure due to obstruction of the upper airway by an exceptionally large goiter, which was successfully resolved by a standard open surgical tracheostomy. In this case, surgical tracheostomy was preceded by bronchoscopic transillumination, which facilitated identification of the appropriate tracheostomy site.
