Intubation granuloma is a rare complication of endotracheal anesthesia, first described by Clausen in 1932. It is a condition, however, which is becoming more frequent owing to the increasing role of intubation in modern surgery. From 1981 to 1985, the authors encountered 10 cases of intubation granuloma in our department and the following facts were noted : 1) Incidence of intubation granuloma during 5 years was 0.053%. 2) Age distribution was from 21 to 50 years old. There was no case under the age of 20. 3) The sex ratio of male to female was 1 : 9, and predominantly female. 4) Sizes of tubes used for endotracheal intubation were French numbers 30, 32, 34. 5) The location of intubation granuloma was the vocal process of arytenoid cartilage in 6 cases, subglottis in 3 cases, and middle one third of vocal process in 1 case. 6) The site of lesion was bilateral in 2 cases, and unilateral in 8 cases. In the unilateral cases the right side was involved in 7 cases, and left side in 1 case. 7) All intubation granulomas were removed by suspension microlaryngoscopy. In 2 cases they recurred. 8) The complaints of the patients were hoarseness in all cases, throat discomfort in 6 cases, sore throat in 3 cases and dyspnea in 2 cases.
|