SHORT COMMUNICATION A Potential Method for Safe Recovery from Recognized Inadvertent Esophageal Intubation

Abstract

How to proceed following inadvertent esophageal intubation and what to do with the misplaced endotracheal tube is controversial and not specifically addressed in the difficult airway algorithm from the American Society of Anesthesiologists.

Here we describe a simple and effective strategy to manually ventilate the patient with an air cushioned face mask while leaving the endotracheal tube in the esophagus to provide a conduit for stomach content suction until definitive endotracheal intubation. We describe clinical circumstances in which we used this method successfully.

Whether to leave the endotracheal tube in the esophagus or what to do with it should be specifically addressed in difficult airway algorithms.