Fractured silver tracheostomy tube: a case report and literature review.

This report raises the question of the long term durability of tracheostomy tubes and describes a patient who inhaled part of a silver tracheostomy tube after it fractured. A review of the literature is presented, which compares the clinical presentations and methods of management described in previous reports. From this review frequent sites of tracheostomy tube fracture have been identified and a method of improvement in manufacture is suggested.