Tracheal and subglottic lesions following long-standing intubation. A radiological and clinical study.

A 3-year systematic study was made for subglottic and tracheal lesions of patients who had been intubated for more than 10 h (87 patients intubated for time periods ranging from 10 to 1,960 h). The radiological aspect of the lesions was studied and classified as tracheal stenosis, cartilage lesions and granulomas. The radiological analyses were performed by tracheography (14 cases), xerography, xerotomography (87 cases) and CT (2 cases). The incidence of lesions was 34% with 3.4% (3 cases) of severe stenosis; only 1 patient was symptomatic. The cuff, the tip of the endotracheal tube and the suction cannula were found to be responsible for the tracheal sequelae. A statistically significant correlation was found between the duration of the intubation and the severity of the tracheal lesions. The lesions, examined radiologically about a year after the intubation, were found to be stable.