Hypopharyngeal perforation: A compilation of endotracheal intubation

Abstract

Endotracheal intubation is a safe procedure. Annually, thousands are performed with few complications. The technique is relatively easy to learn and apply. In recent years it has become the method of choice for airway security in the critically ill. The medical literature so extolls its safety that one may regard it as a riskless procedure. Occasionally, a combination of unfortunate circumstances transforms this safe procedure into one fraught with danger. Recently, at Howard University Hospital a patient sustained the rara complication of hypopharyngeal perforation secondary to endotracheal intubation.