Paratracheal false tract: Inadvertent extratracheal
placement of the tracheostomy
tube can be fatal. It is recognised
by the absence of breath sounds on
auscultation of the lungs, high ventilatory
pressures, failure to ventilate the
lungs, hypoxia, absence of expired
CO2, surgical emphysema, and an inability
to pass a suction catheter down
the bronchial tree, and on chest X-ray