Diagnosis and repair of traumatic tracheal and tracheobronchial disruptions.

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 operation , most patients could respire normally, and they recovered well after a few hours or days of using an uncuffed nasotracheal tube.