Information about Double Trachea Tube
Illustration from Truax catalogue (1899), p. 686 fig. 1588,
shows one of very many virtually identical renditions of the
basic "Luer's" or "Trousseau's" double trachea tube. The "fenestra,"
notes the catalogue, "should be so located in the tube that when the
inner one is withdrawn, it will communicate with that portion of
the trachea that rests above the point of incision. This is to
enable the patient to establish respiration through the mouth
at times when the external tube opening is closed. That the
tube may be held in proper position, a small external oblong plate
is provided, to which tapes may be attached, passed around the
neck of the patient, and fastened." A short history of tracheostomy
is included by James Edmonson in his catalogue of Ninteenth
Century Surgical Instruments (1986), p. 36.
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