Repair of an extensive iatrogenic tracheal rupture with a pleural patch and a vascular graft.

Here we describe a 48-year-old woman who suffered a 7-cm rupture in the lower trachea after intubation with a double-lumen tube. We repaired the rupture with a new technique using a pleural patch reinforced by a ringed vascular graft. This technique appears to be appropriate for use in patients who have large tracheal ruptures to avoid tracheal stenosis.