Negative Pressure Post-Tracheal Extubation Alveolar Hemorrhage

Abstract

IMPLICATIONS General anesthesia often requires placing a tube into the trachea to maintain adequate breathing. At the end of the surgical procedure, the endotracheal tube is removed, and this, as reported here, may sometimes result in the development of pulmonary hemorrhage. We documented the regional distribution by computed tomography of the hemorrhage and its alveolar origin by bronchoscopy and suggest that small lung vessel damage best explains those findings.