Home Nebulisers – a serious complication

This case report highlights a serious complication after using a home nebuliser machine. An elderly patient, known to have COPD, was brought to the Emergency Department with severe difficulty in breathing. Despite salbutamol nebulisers, his condition did not improve. Reassessment of his airway revealed a nebuliser mouthpiece in his oropharynx which was removed with McGill’s forceps. The patient’s condition immediately improved and he was able to start talking. There are reports of aspiration incidents in the literature after the use of metered dose inhalers, we have not been able to find any other reported incidence of this happening with a home nebuliser machine. Although this event was extremely unusual it highlights when patients are using medical equipment at home unsupervised, they must be educated to be able to use it safely Work carried out at Mayday University Hospital