1 Birmingham, UK
EditorFurther to the recent reports of obstructions in airway circuits,13 we write to warn of another cause of circuit obstruction. A 3-year-old child required a second anaesthetic after a perforated eye injury. At gaseous induction, he sucked his dummy. Once asleep, the facemask was applied more tightly and it was clinically obvious that the airway had obstructed. On checking the tubing system, the base of the dummy had jammed in the opening of the facemask (Fig. 1). It was detached uneventfully before any arterial desaturation occurred.
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J. Choi
G. M. Cooper
Birmingham, UK
References
1 Hall C. Staff error, not sabotage, to blame for boys death. Daily Telegraph, July 23, 2002
2 Meikle J. Third patient at risk from oxygen block. Guardian, August 10, 2002
3 Ward MM, Collins SJ. Another case of obstruction to an anaesthetic circuit. Br J Anaesth 2003; 90: 11011