Marked anterior displacement of the trachea and larynx from an esophageal obturator airway (EOA).

A 67-year-old man suffering cardiopulmonary arrest had an apparently uneventful placement of an esophageal obturator airway (EOA) by a well-trained ambulance crew. Subsequent clinical evaluation showed ventilation to be marginal. Attempts to insert an endotracheal tube were unsuccessful because the larynx could not be visualized. A subsequent postmortem examination showed that the EOA tube was kinked and bent back on itself so that the distal (balloon) end lay underneath the larynx, displacing it anteriorly.