Post-Covid tracheal resection – first case in India

Abstract

Prolonged intubations result in tracheal damage and stenosis, the treatment for severe cases is resection and anastomosis. With the progress of the Covid-19 pandemic, this incidence kept rising but the timing and precautions for such aerosolising surgeries remained unclear. To report the first case of tracheal resection and anastomosis in India done during the Covid-19 pandemic along with its rationale. We report a case of 30/male with prolonged intubation and tracheostomy done for Covid-19 pneumonia and ARDS with failure to decannulate and complete loss of voice. After thorough preoperative work-up, he underwent tracheal resection of 4 rings with cricotracheal anastomosis during the covid-19 pandemic in October 2020. He was extubated on table and was asymptomatic after 3 months of follow-up with excellent voice. With good team effort and appropriate precautions, aerosolising airway surgeries resection anastomosis can be safely performed.