A review of the management of 140 elective tracheostomies following open-heart surgery.

are discussed and possible reasons for the high incidence of tracheostomy are considered. The complications have been carefully assessed. The results indicate that, although there is room for improvement, a reduction in the number and severity of complications has been achieved. In particular there have been few late sequelae, which is attributed to good surgical technique and the adoption of the Bjork operation. In 60% of the patients there were no complications; one death was directly attributable to tracheostomy.