A patient is intubated for respiratory failure and the post-intubation CXR is shown on the left. 30 minutes later the patient desaturates and another CXR is obtained (the one on the right). What’s the diagnosis and what should you do?
Mucus plug
There are several conditions to consider when patients are having difficultly being ventilated. The approach to such a patient can be remembered with a mnemonic found here.
In this case, conditions to consider are:
Treating mucus plugs can usually be treated as follows:
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