Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• KOLBITSCH, C
• POMAROLI, A
• LORENZ, I
• GASSNER, M
• LUGER, T. J

Titel

Pneumothorax following nasogastric feeding tube insertion in a tracheostomized patient after bilateral lung transplantation

Ist Teil von

• Intensive care medicine, 1997-04, Vol.23 (4), p.440-442

Ort / Verlag

Heidelberg: Springer

Erscheinungsjahr

1997

Quelle

SpringerLINK Contemporary (Konsortium Baden-Württemberg)

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• We report the case of a pneumothorax caused by the improper placement of a nasogastric feeding tube in a tracheostomized patient after bilateral lung transplantation. We discuss the contribution of low-pressure cuffed tracheostomy tubes to the inadvertent respiratory tract misplacement of a nasogastric feeding tube, as well as the problems of nasogastric feeding tube insertion in the sedated patient, why the previously installed closed-tube thoracostomy did not prevent the pneumothorax and possible pitfalls in confirming the proper position of the nasogastric feeding tube. In conclusions, we stress that in high risk patients a nasogastric feeding tube should only be inserted under direct vision and that a subsequent routine X-ray is mandatory for confirming proper positioning.