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CASE REPORT article

Front. Med.
Sec. Pulmonary Medicine
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmed.2025.1457903
This article is part of the Research Topic Case Reports in Pulmonary Medicine 2024 View all 22 articles

Case report: The Montgomery T-tube may be the preferred transition option for achieving a smooth extubation after tracheotomy when complicating airway pathology is present

Provisionally accepted
Jieqiong Wang Jieqiong Wang 1Xun Li Xun Li 2Weihua Xu Weihua Xu 1Nenghui Jiang Nenghui Jiang 3Ming Chen Ming Chen 1*Bo Yang Bo Yang 4*
  • 1 Other, Hangzhou, Jiangsu Province, China
  • 2 Jiaxing University Medical College, Jiaxing, China
  • 3 Department of Anesthesia operating room, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Jiaxing University, Jiaxing, China
  • 4 Department of Pharmacy, Tongde Hospital of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The Montgomery T-tube may be the preferred transition option for achieving a smooth extubation after tracheotomy when complicating airway pathology is present Abstract Prolonged retention of tracheostomy tubes post-procedure often leads to complications, including granulation tissue overgrowth, airway narrowing, and laryngeal edema, necessitating delayed removal of the tracheostomy tube. Currently, a definitive therapeutic regimen capable of simultaneously resolving these complications and expediting tracheostomy decannulation remains elusive. Herein, we present an efficacious strategy addressing these airway morbidities and facilitating rapid tube removal. A 44-year-old male patient, who had undergone tracheostomy due to underlying disease, demonstrated substantial recovery following rehabilitation and was poised for tracheostomy tube extraction. However, bronchoscopic examination revealed severe granulation tissue at the stoma site and laryngeal edema, posing challenges to immediate decannulation. To tackle these issues concurrently while aiming for swift tube removal, we performed bronchoscopic intervention for granulation tissue excision, subsequently replacing the conventional tracheostomy tube with a Montgomery T-tube as a transitional measure to restore normal ventilation. With additional rehabilitation fostering respiratory function enhancement, follow-up bronchoscopies confirmed no recurrence of granulations and significant reduction in laryngeal edema, thereby enabling the successful removal of the Montgomery T-tube two months later, restoring the patient's unassisted respiratory capacity. This case underscores a clinically pertinent insight: following resolution of local airway abnormalities impeding tracheostomy decannulation, the strategic implementation of a Montgomery T-tube as a transitional phase merits serious consideration among clinicians managing patients with long-term tracheostomies. Our findings contribute to the development of more streamlined approaches to overcoming complexities associated with tracheostomy tube removal in clinical practice.

    Keywords: Tracheotomy, Montgomery T-tube, Tracheostomy cannula, suprastomal granulomas, case report

    Received: 01 Jul 2024; Accepted: 08 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Wang, Li, Xu, Jiang, Chen and Yang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Ming Chen, Other, Hangzhou, Jiangsu Province, China
    Bo Yang, Department of Pharmacy, Tongde Hospital of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou, 310012, Zhejiang Province, China

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