Tracheal laceration: a rare complication of median sternotomy

Tracheal Injury Prior to Sternotomy: A Cautionary Tale

Tracheal laceration during cardiac surgery is a rarely reported form of iatrogenic tracheal injury. During dissection prior to sternotomy, the interclavicular ligament must be divided. This structure overlies the proximal trachea, predisposing the trachea to injury at this location. Challenges related to tracheal laceration in cardiac surgery include patients with already tenuous cardiopulmonary status, surgical positioning that increases the risk of injury, obscured traditional clinical findings causing delayed recognition, increased risk of mediastinitis, and a heightened risk of airway fire. The incidence, mechanism, and ideal management of sternotomy-related tracheal injury, though a life-threatening complication, is rarely described in the literature. Consensus is lacking regarding the necessity and timing of tracheal repair versus conservative management, whether to proceed with the initially planned procedure, and the optimal timing of airway exchange in the event of endotracheal tube cuff rupture. In this article, we present the management of a full-thickness thermal tracheal injury due to electrocautery, resulting in a large air leak treated with delayed endotracheal tube exchange and tracheal repair after cardiopulmonary bypass.

Tracheal injury detected immediately after median sternotomy by inexperienced surgeons: two case reports

Background

Although median sternotomy is standard during cardiac surgery, the procedure is associated with a risk of injury to mediastinal organs. Here, we discuss two cases of tracheal injury following median sternotomy during cardiac surgery.

Case presentation

Ventilation failure occurred in a 78-year-old Japanese man and a 71-year-old Japanese man after median sternotomy, and tracheal injury was identified. The sites of injury were directly repaired and covered with mediastinal fat tissue, following which ventilation was successful. The burn-like deposits observed at the site of tracheal injury and on the removed endotracheal tube support the notion that the injuries in our patients were caused by electrocautery prior to median sternotomy. In one case, short sternotracheal distance may have contributed to tracheal injury during post-sternal manipulation. In both cases, the relative inexperience of both surgeons also supports the suspected cause of injury.

Conclusions

Tracheal injury represents a potential complication following median sternotomy, especially when performed by inexperienced surgeons or in cases of short sternotracheal distance. Anesthesiologists should consider this rare yet potentially lethal complication.

Conservative management of intraoperative tracheal injury during cardiac operations

Iatrogenic intraoperative tracheal injuries are rare in cardiac operations. Management of this complication is not well described because of the low incidence and lack of reported cases. We present an 82-year-old woman who sustained a tracheal injury during aortic valve replacement. Soft tissue coverage of the trachea was obtained, the original cardiac operation was completed, and she was otherwise managed conservatively. She recovered without further complication and was discharged home 1 week after the surgical procedure.

Inadvertent tracheal perforation during thyroidectomy

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