instruction: my sister is tracheostomized and bedridden after her fourth surgery done for foramen magnum meningioma she has drooling and now saliva is coming out under the tracheotomy plate she asks for frequent suctioning as she feels difficulty breathing her saturation is above 90 after suctioning since it is lockdown we are worried to take her to hospital is this an emergency
output: hi if the patient is tracheostomised and if your really sure that the secretions from the tracheotomy tube is saliva then there is a possibility of developing a fistula an abnormal connection between the food pipe oesophagus and the trachea called as tracheosophageal fistula in such a condition we first need to heal the fistula and it can be done by following below mentioned advice there would be a cuff inflator pipe through which air can be inflated and deflated in and out from the cuff even though the inflated cuff prevents faulty aspiration of fluids from the mouth while swallowing it can also create a necrosis around the trachea thus causing the oesophagus to get connected to it you to need to suction the tube and deflate the cuff every his for 15mins so that this raw surface connecting the two heals and saliva from the tube stops coming for few days the patient might be stopped orally and a rules tube might have to be inserted to feed the patient repeated swallowing can again infect the area and might lead to leak of food also through the tube you can go to the emergency of any hospital to get this tube inserted in case its not there I hope this answers your query you can consult me for any further clarification warm regards