Morphological findings after an endotracheal tube fire caused by laser surgery

A 49-year-old Greek patient with the diagnosis of cancer of the larynx, who underwent radiation therapy in his country, developed recidivation of his cancer, which was necessary to be treated by laryngectomy, as he was told in Greece. Having heard about laser surgery, by which the tumor could be removed without the loss of the larynx and the respective life quality, he decided to be treated in Germany, although he could not speak German or English. For reduction of the expenses, the patient was released from the hospital by own choice 3 days after the operation. He traveled to Hamburg and stayed at a friend’s home, suffering from strong pain and increasing difficulty to swallow food and to breath. Eventually he had to be transfened by emergency to the ENT-clinic of the Hamburg University Hospital, where very severe bums of his throat and trachea where diagnosed. Obviously, a burn of the endotracheal tube had occurred during his microlaryngoscopic operation, which was confirmed by the treating hospital after an inquiry from the Hamburg University Hospital. The patient had not been informed about the accident by the surgeon or the treating hospital. There was just one sentence about the course of this adverse event to be found in the available documentation of the operation. During a period of 7 days on a ward at the Hamburg University Hospital, the status of the patient’s throat mucosa was documented daily, until he was released from the hospital by own choice and returned home to Greece.