A tracheal bronchus is a congenital abnormality of the tracheobronchial tree in which a displaced or accessory bronchus arises from the trachea superior to its bifurcation. We herein report a case in which a tracheal bronchus was incidentally found after induction of general anesthesia, and we discuss the potential airway management problems that may have ensued. An 80-year-old man was scheduled for buccal mucosa resection and abdominal skin grafting for treatment of squamous cell carcinoma of the left buccal mucosa. Because of trismus and anticipated airway difficulty, an awake intubation was performed under sedation. A 3-branched structure was incidentally observed at the first branching site that was supposed to be the carina. The tip of the endotracheal tube was repositioned 3 cm above the tracheal trifurcation, and the rest of the procedure proceeded uneventfully. A flexible fiberoptic scope is not used in many anesthesia cases, making the identification of such tracheal or bronchial abnormalities more difficult. Therefore, it is important to carefully check the bronchial morphology on any available chest radiographs before surgery, listen to lung sounds after intubation, and assess thoracic lung compliance without neglecting routine safety checks.
A, Fiberoptic view of the anomalous bronchus in the present case. Note that the orifice of the tracheal bronchus is positioned immediately to the right of the right main bronchus. B, Drawing of the bronchial anatomy showing the right upper lobe tracheal bronchus. • indicates carina; ▲, tracheal bronchus orifice.
Figure 3.
Portable AP Chest Radiograph Taken in OR After Intubation
Note that the right upper lobe begins directly from the trachea and that the tube tip is located above all 3 apertures (red outline). AP indicates anterior-posterior; OR, operating room.
Figure 4.
Schematic Representing the 3 Types of Tracheal Bronchus Likely to be of Significance to Anesthesiologists
Type I, displaced right upper lobe tracheal bronchus. Type II, supernumerary right upper lobe tracheal bronchus. Type III (this case), displaced right upper lobe tracheal bronchus as tracheal trifurcation.
Contributor Notes
Address correspondence to Dr Toru Yamamoto, Division of Dental Anesthesiology, Faculty of Dentistry & Graduate School of Medicine and Dental Sciences, Niigata University, 2-5274 Gakkocho-dori, Chuo-ku, Niigata 951-8514, Japan; toruyamamoto@dent.niigata-u.ac.jp.