Emergency sleeve lobectomy after blunt chest trauma in a child.

The clinical features and successful management of a patient with right main bronchus disruption after blunt chest trauma are described. The presentation was one of bilateral tension pneumothoraces. A high index of suspicion, coupled with appropriate airway management at presentation, was vital for the successful treatment of this patient. Surgical resection using a sleeve lobectomy, an operation rarely used in trauma patients, was highly effective in this patient, and the technique is described in this report.

A complication of cricothyroid "minitracheostomy"--oesophageal perforation.

Two patients suffered perforation of the oesophagus during attempted placement of a cricothyroid minitracheostomy. We discuss the probable mechanisms and means of preventing such a recurrence.