On Tracheotomy, Especially in Relation to Diseases of the Larynx and Trachea.

by William Pugin Thornton




PHOTO. II.-Illustrating Portion of Tracheotomy Tube lodged in the Left Bronchus, it having broken away from its shield, and slipped down the trachea.


t, Tongue.
e, Epiglottis.
v.c, Vocal cords (thickened and ulcerated).
o, Tracheal opening for tube.
c, Post-mortem cut sewn up.
sc, External portion of tube, the screw showing how it was attached to the shield.
l.b, Left bronchus with tube lodged in it.

At the beginning of 1874, a clergyman, upon whom I had operated for chronic laryngitis in the previous May, broke his tube away from the shield whilst trying to clear it of mucus, by pushing in a cedar pencil with which he was writing, and it slipped into the right bronchus (vide Photograph II.). The tube was made of vulcanite, fixed to a silver shield. He had been repeatedly warned that inserting his pencil in such a manner was a dangerous procedure.

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