Fractured tracheostomy tube in the tracheo-bronchial tree.

ABSTRACT

Tracheostomy is a life saving procedure and many a times patients are discharged with permanent tracheostomy tubes. However, fracture of tracheostomy tube with subsequent migration into the tracheobronchial tree is uncommon and carries the potentially fatal risk of respiratory obstruction. In this report, a case of a 6-year-old boy is presented, who had aspirated a fractured tracheostomy tube which had lodged in the left bronchus.