Successful airway management of traumatic complete tracheal transection

A man in his 20s sustained complete tracheal transection after being injured by a sandbag pile falling on his neck. An oral endotracheal tube (ETT) was inserted by rapid sequence induction in view of respiratory distress. CT revealed that the ETT did not traverse the distal tracheal segment; however, there were rebreathing bag movements, and normal capnograph and oxygen saturation, which were misleading clinical findings. We describe the successful airway management in this challenging case.