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Emergency Management of Ventilation Failure Through Blocked

Tracheostomy Tube in a Paediatric Patient

Article  in  Cureus · July 2022

DOI: 10.7759/cureus.26873

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King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre
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 Open Access Case
Report DOI: 10.7759/cureus.26873

Emergency Management of Ventilation Failure

Through Blocked Tracheostomy Tube in a
Review began 07/07/2022
Paediatric Patient
Review ended 07/11/2022
Published 07/14/2022 Ahmed Bilal Akhtar 1 , Ahsun Khan 1 , Huma Saleem 2 , Zahra Mannan 1 , Muhammad Naveed Azhar 1

© Copyright 2022
Akhtar et al. This is an open access article 1. Anesthesia and Critical Care, Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre, Lahore, PAK 2.
distributed under the terms of the Creative Anesthesia and Critical Care, Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre, lahore, PAK
Commons Attribution License CC-BY 4.0.,
which permits unrestricted use, distribution,
Corresponding author: Ahmed Bilal Akhtar, [email protected]
and reproduction in any medium, provided
the original author and source are credited.

Abstract
The most common complication of tracheostomy tubes in children is blockage of the tube. We report a case
where ventilation after induction of anaesthesia was not possible even though there were no signs of
impending obstruction. An eight-year-old child, recently diagnosed with left tonsillar embryonal
rhabdomyosarcoma, presented for an MRI face and bone marrow biopsy before starting treatment. Due to
difficulty in breathing, the patient had undergone a tracheostomy at a different institute and a size six
uncuffed tracheostomy tube was in situ. There was difficulty in ventilating the patient due to blockage in the
tracheostomy tube which was addressed and the patient was discharged after successful completion of both
the procedures. This case highlights the importance of following an emergency algorithm for failure to
ventilate in a patient with a tracheostomy tube, identifying the cause and treating it.

Categories: Anesthesiology, Otolaryngology, Pediatrics

Keywords: management, emergency, ventilation, blockage, airway, anaesthesia, paediatrics, tracheostomy

Introduction
Tracheotomy means making a surgical opening in the trachea and tracheostomy denotes the formation of
the orifice in the skin which leads to the trachea [1]. The indications of tracheostomy include upper airway
obstruction, prolonged mechanical ventilation, bronchial toilet, part of a surgical procedure (laryngectomy)
and airway protection in diseases like bulbar palsy [2]. Tracheostomy tubes can be of various sizes, cuffed or
uncuffed and may be fenestrated. The different sizes of the tube are as per the inner diameter, outer
diameter, length, and curvature of the tube [3].

The complications of a tracheostomy can be divided into three categories. Early complications include
haemorrhage, aspiration, pneumothorax and failure of the procedure. Short-term problems can be a
blockage, tube displacement, pneumothorax, surgical emphysema, infection, delayed haemorrhage, tracheal
necrosis and trachea-arterial fistula. Lastly, long-term complications such as tracheomalacia, tracheal
stenosis, tracheocutaneous fistula and decannulation problems can occur [4]. It is important for all the
physicians who are dealing with airway to have knowledge regarding the tracheostomy tube.

This article was previously presented as a poster at 20th Shaukat Khanum Cancer Symposium on November
7, 2021.

Case Presentation
An eight-year-old boy presented to the ENT specialist with a history of a sore throat for one month. On
physical examination, a mass was noted on the left side of the base of the tongue. CT advised by the
specialist showed a left tonsillar soft tissue density lesion with no evident necrosis to suggest abscess
formation. After the tissue biopsy patient developed dysphagia and complained of shortness of breath. A
tracheostomy was done to relieve the symptoms and a nasogastric tube was passed for feeding.

The child came to us for baseline magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) face and bone marrow biopsy under
General Anaesthesia before commencing chemotherapy. Apparently, the child was sitting comfortably with
a tracheostomy tube in situ, with no visible signs and symptoms of distress or shortness of breath. Baseline
vitals were within normal range. The stoma site was normal on examination as well as the airflow which was
checked by placing a hand near the opening of the tracheostomy tube. On examination, the tongue was
completely abutting the oral cavity.

As per the initial plan, inhalational induction was started by connecting the circuit to the tracheostomy tube.
On connecting, the circuit child became anxious and wanted to be in a sitting position. The circuit was
disconnected and reattached in a sitting position with the tracheostomy tube. Sevoflurane was started at 4%
initially with visible chest rise, movement of the rebreathing bag, end-tidal carbon dioxide, respiratory rate

How to cite this article

Akhtar A, Khan A, Saleem H, et al. (July 14, 2022) Emergency Management of Ventilation Failure Through Blocked Tracheostomy Tube in a
Paediatric Patient. Cureus 14(7): e26873. DOI 10.7759/cureus.26873
 of 20-24 and saturation of 99%.

After sedating the patient, he was placed in the supine position. Subsequently, the end-tidal carbon dioxide
was absent with no movement of the rebreathing bag but with visible exertion of the patient to breathe and
drop in saturation. A fast sweep was done starting from patient end to machine, checking all possibilities for
a blockage in parts like circuit, expiratory and inspiratory valve, adjustable pressure-limiting (APL) valve,
soda lime, heat-moisture exchange (HME) filter and vaporizer. On auscultation, harsh breathing sounds
were audible in both lungs.

A call for help was made once the cause could not be identified. Upon disconnecting the circuit from the
tracheostomy tube patient was breathing comfortably in room air and maintaining saturation. The machine
was checked manually but there was no fault. The suctioning catheter could not be passed through the
tracheostomy tube. The probable cause seemed to be blockage of the tracheostomy tube.

After the arrival of help, paediatric bougie was pushed through the tube. Following an initial resistance,
there was a sudden passage of bougie through a tracheostomy tube. After removing the bougie, the circuit
was connected to a tracheostomy tube which showed high end-tidal carbon dioxide (50-60 mmHg). But the
end-tidal carbon dioxide vanished again with the patient breathing irregularly. It was more evident by now
that there was a blockage in the tracheostomy tube, stoma or trachea. Surgery team was called in and it was
collectively decided to move the patient to Operation Theatre (controlled environment) for doing fiber-optic
bronchoscopy before tracheostomy tube replacement.

On doing the fiber-optic bronchoscopy, Figure 1 shows the visible blockage due to crusted mucus plug.
Subsequently big size Nelaton catheter was used to break the crusted secretions. Ventilation of the patient
became smoother. Single cannula Tracheostomy tube was replaced with a double cannula cuffed
tracheostomy tube and secured properly. After successfully changing the tube, patient underwent both the
procedures and was discharged.

FIGURE 1: Lumen of tracheostomy tube obstructed with crusting.

Discussion
As per the Royal College of Anaesthetists fourth National Audit Project, the most common tracheostomy-
related critical incidents were due to displacement [5]. The most common causes of death in children due to
tracheostomy are tube obstruction, misplacement, and accidental decannulation [6]. As per the literature,
there are a few more documented cases of obstruction in tracheostomy tubes but the causes are different
such as fragmented tube [7] or a defective pilot [8].

In this case, the patient had a blocked tracheostomy tube but with no visible signs and symptoms of
respiratory distress. The narrow opening through the crusting had allowed the patient to breathe under
negative pressure. Once attached to the circuit the increase in resistance caused increased work of breathing
and hence the difficulty in breathing. As the circuit would be detached, the patient was able to breathe in
through the environment with less resistance. The circumstances made it difficult to diagnose the
obstruction and it could easily be missed.

Patients with an existing tracheostomy can present for surgery. It is essential to check the type, size,
distance of tube end from carina, presence of inner cannula and patency of tracheostomy tube in such
patients [9,10]. Speaking valves can be used incorrectly and these along with the small humidifying devices
can easily become blocked with secretions [11]. The upper end of the airway needs to be assessed for

2022 Akhtar et al. Cureus 14(7): e26873. DOI 10.7759/cureus.26873 2 of 3

 emergency intubation and a backup ventilation strategy should be devised.
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The important points in the emergency management of tracheostomy tube as per the multidisciplinary
guidelines for the management of tracheostomy and laryngectomy include calling for help, look, listen and
feel for breathing at the mouth and tracheostomy site. Use of capnograph. Check pulse if not palpable, start
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (Chest compressions) and call the resuscitation team. If there is a pulse then
oxygenation of the patient should be prioritized. Suction is only attempted after removing a potentially
blocked inner tube. Oxygen is applied to both potential airways. A blocked or displaced tracheostomy tube is
removed as soon as this is established and not as a last resort [11].

Conclusions
Paediatric patients have lower respiratory reserves. Any reason causing respiratory compromise can lead to
fatal consequences. Especially when the airway is difficult and there is no other way of resuscitating the
patient. Our case represents the successful management of an emergency situation following basic
guidelines of tracheostomy troubleshooting. Always follow the basics which is to oxygenate the patient and
look for the cause.

Additional Information
Disclosures
Human subjects: Consent was obtained or waived by all participants in this study. Shaukat khanum
Memorial Cancer Hospital Institutional Review Board issued approval EX-05-10-20-03. Conflicts of
interest: In compliance with the ICMJE uniform disclosure form, all authors declare the following:
Payment/services info: All authors have declared that no financial support was received from any
organization for the submitted work. Financial relationships: All authors have declared that they have no
financial relationships at present or within the previous three years with any organizations that might have
an interest in the submitted work. Other relationships: All authors have declared that there are no other
relationships or activities that could appear to have influenced the submitted work.

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