Barotrauma due to obstruction of the breathing system during a CT‐scan examination in a child

Abstract

SummaryA case of pulmonary barotrauma is described in a child undergoing a CT scan in the prone position. Anaesthesia was uneventful until the final exiting movement from the scanner when inadvertent total occlusion of the expiratory limb of a Jackson‐Rees modification of the Ayre's T‐piece occurred. The rapid rise in intrapulmonary pressure caused bilateral pneumothoraces despite the use of an uncuffed tracheal tube. The unusual demands of anaesthesia in the X‐ray department may have contributed to this uncommon complication of the use of an Ayre's T‐piece.