Case Report
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2021. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Dec 6, 2021; 9(34): 10733-10737
Published online Dec 6, 2021. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v9.i34.10733
Tracheal tube misplacement in the thoracic cavity: A case report
Ke-Xin Li, Yu-Ting Luo, Leng Zhou, Jia-Peng Huang, Peng Liang
Ke-Xin Li, Yu-Ting Luo, Leng Zhou, Department of Anesthesiology, West China Hospital, Chengdu 610041, Sichuan Province, China
Jia-Peng Huang, Department of Anesthesiology, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY 40202, United States
Peng Liang, Day Surgery Center, Department of Anesthesiology, West China Hospital, Chengdu 610041, Sichuan Province, China
Author contributions: Li KX, Luo YT, and Zhou L collected medical records of the patient; all authors were involved in the drafting and revision of this manuscript and approved the final version to be published.
Informed consent statement: Informed written consent was obtained from the patient for publication of this report and any accompanying images.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
CARE Checklist (2016) statement: The authors have read the CARE Checklist (2016), and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the CARE Checklist (2016).
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Peng Liang, MD, Associate Professor, Day Surgery Center, Department of Anesthesiology, West China Hospital, No. 37 Guoxue Alley, Wuhou District, Chengdu 610041, Sichuan Province, China. liangpengwch@scu.edu.cn
Received: August 2, 2021
Peer-review started: August 2, 2021
First decision: September 1, 2021
Revised: September 9, 2021
Accepted: October 18, 2021
Article in press: October 18, 2021
Published online: December 6, 2021
Processing time: 119 Days and 21 Hours
Core Tip

Core Tip: We report a case of malposition of the endotracheal tube into the right hemithoracic cavity for cervical knife trauma, resulting in pneumothorax. Fortunately, the anesthetist timely noticed the absence of end-tidal carbon dioxide (ETCO2) waveform and reviewed the thoracic computed tomography scanning just before anesthesia induction. This case highlights the role of ETCO2 waveform and/or chest radiography in confirmation of emergency endotracheal intubation, especially for junior doctors and emergency physicians.