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Airway & ventilation
Hypopharyngeal perforation after King laryngeal tube
Hypopharyngeal Perforation Associated with King Laryngeal Tube Use in Prehospital Cardiac Arrest Management
Prehospital Emergency Care · Added 27 July 2026
Hypopharyngeal perforation is a rare but serious complication of prehospital King laryngeal tube placement.
- Study type
- Case series
- Design
- Case series with postmortem CT findings
- Participants
- 3 OHCA patients
- Main finding
- All three developed extensive subcutaneous emphysema and two had pneumothorax; postmortem CT showed anterolateral device deviation from the oesophageal axis
- Caveat
- Only three cases; postmortem diagnosis, no serial capnography available
- Bottom line
- Context only
Learning goal
Strengthen my judgement on airway device positioning and early recognition of iatrogenic airway injury during cardiac arrest management.
More
- Topic: Airway & ventilation
- Daily scan: 27 July 2026
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