[Injuries to the tracheo-bronchial tree].

Tracheobronchial injuries are rare events but often life-threatening. A great expertise in the field of thoracic surgery is necessary to manage these events. The aetiology of the injury - traumatic or iatrogenic - allows immediate considerations about the pattern of damage. The flexible or rigid bronchoscopy is the central diagnostic procedure to classify the injury. Whereas iatrogenic tracheal lacerations can be treated by conservative or operative means depending on severity, traumatic injuries of the tracheo-bronchial system need technically challenging operative reconstructions in almost every case.