Online Health Advice > Tracheotomy tube too long? > Surgery Questions

A tracheotomy placed in my mother began to "leak air" after several days. She is on a ventilator and the T tube was not supported, hang at an angle from her neck.

A few days later, under emergency conditions, the old trach was removed and replaced with an extra long tube, reasoning being that the old trach leaked because the tube was too short. Ever since this, my mother constantly gags and coughs.

I've been contending that the extra long is too big for her. The pulmonary group insists it's fine since airflow isn't obstructed. However this gagging is something that she did not have with the old trach, and hasn't been a problem since she had an endotracheal tube in place.

After an episode described as "congestive heart failure" (undiagnosed) and possible myocardial infarction (also undiagnosed) during which she experienced tachycardia and O2 saturation in the lower 80s, each time the trach is suctioned there is blood in the ventilator tube. This has continued four days after the event.

Although the bleeding may be unrelated, I still have to ask if the gagging could be caused by the extra long trach tube. The doctors won't perform an x-ray, and the surgical group was supposed to examine it but still haven't. In the meantime she's still in great discomfort and gagging/coughing so hard her face becomes dark red. Even after suctioning of trach and mouth.