Conservative management of intraoperative tracheal injury during cardiac operations.

Iatrogenic intraoperative tracheal injuries are rare in cardiac operations. Management of this complication is not well described because of the low incidence and lack of reported cases. We present an 82-year-old woman who sustained a tracheal injury during aortic valve replacement. Soft tissue coverage of the trachea was obtained, the original cardiac operation was completed, and she was otherwise managed conservatively. She recovered without further complication and was discharged home 1 week after the surgical procedure.