Yalew Debella, MD
MD
Northeast Georgia Medical Center, United States
Disclosure information not submitted.
Tracy Riter, ACNP
APP
Northeast Georgia Medical Center, United States
Disclosure information not submitted.
Title: Expect the unexpected: nasopharyngeal airway as a foreign body
Introduction: Nasopharyngeal airway device (NPA) are hollow plastic or soft rubber tubes used to assist with patient oxygenation and ventilation by passing through the nose to the posterior pharynx. Here we describe the unusual case of a 57-year-old male with acute respiratory failure found to have an NPA in the left main bronchus.
Description: A 57-year-old male smoker with medical history of COPD on home oxygen and seizure disorder brought by EMS after being found minimally responsive. He had a an NPA placed on route, but was ultimately intubated in the emergency department. Chest X-ray post intubation demonstrated left lower lobe atelectasis, a foreign body in the trachea and a properly placed endotracheal tube. Follow up CT chest confirmed a foreign body extending from distal trachea into the left main bronchus. Patient was transferred to the ICU where emergent bronchoscopy was done which showed a laryngo-pharyngeal airway located in the distal trachea extending into the mainstem left bronchus, and a 24 French nasal airway was successfully retrieved from the trachea. Two days post procedure he was successfully extubated and later on discharged from the hospital.