Intra-operative tracheal obstruction by tumour fragments.

A patient underwent oesophageal dilatation for invasive secondary carcinoma. During the course of the procedure, ventilation of the patient's lungs became impossible due to total tracheal obstruction. A rigid bronchoscopy was performed and the cause was found to be fragments of tumour that had broken off and were behaving like a ball-valve in the trachea and right main bronchus.