Diagnosis and management of laryngotracheal injuries

Laryngotracheal (LT) injury remains a rare but life-threatening condition; many victims of LT trauma expire in the pre-hospital setting secondary to asphyxiation and haemorrhage. Given the high mortality associated with LT trauma, one must maintain a high index of suspicion to identify and treat these injuries promptly. LT trauma consists of a heterogeneous set of mechanisms of injury and presentations. It is widely held that improved prehospital trauma systems in many areas have led to increased numbers of patients surviving initial laryngotracheal injury to arrive in the emergency department for secondary or tertiary evaluation.