Murphy’s Eye: A Last Moment Saviour for Anaesthesiologist In Case of Surgery for Recurrent Vocal Cord Polyposis.

Securing the airway in Juvenile papillomas of the vocal cords and trachea is sometimes hazardous and potentially lethal. In our case, when such patient was planned under GA, her right sided chest developed decreased air entry with varying degree of severity, while her left side chest presented as silent chest gradually during surgery. On exploration, the possible reason for ventilation on the right side was found to be the presence of Murphy’s eye, which functioned as a vent, when the primary distal opening of an ETT became occluded.

Obstruction of an Endotracheal Tube with Change of the Head Position in a Trachea Deviated Patient : A case report / 대한마취과학회지

Various causes of endotracheal tube obstruction during general anesthesia exist. Herein, the case of a 77-year old male patient, with tracheal deviation, who was intubated with an endotracheal tube in the emergency room, without a Murphy eye, is reported. He was transferred to the operating room for the removal of a subdural hematoma. The endotracheal tube suddenly became obstructed during flexion of neck for the craniotomy procedure. The distal bevel of the endotracheal tube, without Murphy eye, was discovered to have come into contact with the tracheal wall, with the airway being obstructed during the fiberoptic bronchoscopy. Shortly after extubation of the obstructed tube, an armored tube, with a Murphy eye, was reintubated, after which the respiration pattern immediately returned to normal.