TY - JOUR T1 - Endoscopic control of gastric emptying after administration of intravenous erythromycin in an awake patient scheduled for urgent rigid bronchoscopy JF - BMJ Case Reports JO - BMJ Case Reports DO - 10.1136/bcr-2018-228049 VL - 12 IS - 2 SP - e228049 AU - Sultan Nawabi AU - Jean-Louis Frossard AU - Jerome Plojoux AU - Christoph Czarnetzki Y1 - 2019/02/01 UR - http://casereports.bmj.com/content/12/2/e228049.abstract N2 - Certain interventional pulmonology procedures such as the placement of a tracheal stent or resection of stenosing tracheal tumours require rigid bronchoscopy under general anaesthesia. Unlike an endotracheal tube with a cuff, the rigid bronchoscope only partially protects the airway from bronchoaspiration. For this reason, this procedure is performed on an elective basis in fasted patients. We describe the case of a 60-year-old man with acute respiratory distress requiring emergent rigid bronchoscopy following distal migration of a tracheal stent. One hour before the procedure, the patient had eaten a full meal. Gastric emptying was accelerated by perfusion of intravenous erythromycin and verified by endoscopy with a small diameter gastric endoscope under local anaesthesia. This 1 min procedure was very well tolerated by the patient and allowed to verify with certainty that the stomach was empty. The urgent rigid bronchoscopy for stent retrieval could then be performed safely without any risk of bronchoaspiration. ER -