Summary
During the period from January 1968 to December 1982, 8 patients received emergency
operations for traumatic tracheobronchial rupture in the Department of Thoracic Surgery,
Odense University Hospital. Half of the lesions were the result of blunt trauma; the
other half were penetrating injuries or iatrogenic lesions. All of them were treated
within 24 hours by direct suture of the lesion. In our experience soft, rapidly absorbable
sutures should be used in the cartilaginous and membraneous parts of the larynx and
trachea, and tracheotomy should be avoided where at all possible. Using these principles
we have been able to avoid completely any cases of re-stenosis with its attendant
complications. After opera-io tion, most patients could respire normally, and they
recovered well after a few hours or days of using an uneuffed nasotracheal tube.
Key words
Tracheobronchial rupture - Diagnosis - Principles of treatment - Chromic catgut suture
- Indications for tracheotomy