Tracheobronchial Foreign Bodies
IR techniques are useful for retrieval of obstructive tracheal or bronchial foreign bodies, particularly in very small patients in which surgery or endoscopy would either be dangerous or impossible. Occasionally, tracheal diameter restrictions require extubation before tracheoscopy / bronchoscopy can be performed. The endoscopes used are often occlusive in these small patients impairing adequate ventilation. IR techniques enable one to perform these procedures under fluoroscopic guidance using snares or stone baskets through a bronchoscope adapter and endotracheal tube while a complete anesthetic circuit is maintained.