Early versus Late Percutaneous Tracheotomy in Critically Ill Patients: a Retrospective Single Center Observational Study.

Despite decades of experience in tracheotomy, there still exists a controversy over its ideal timing. The aim of our study was to compare the impact of early and late percutaneous tracheotomy in terms of their ability to reduce mechanical ventilation duration and length of stay in Intensive Care Unit, as well as the frequency of ventilator-associated pneumonia and mortality rates in tracheotomized patients. This retrospective observational study indicated that early tracheotomy in surgical and neurosurgical patients was associated with a reduced duration of mechanical ventilation and reduced length of stay in Intensive Care Unit, but was unable to reduce the frequency of ventilator-associated pneumonia and mortality. The reason behind the shorter duration of mechanical ventilation and shorter length of stay in Intensive Care Unit in the early tracheotomy arm was shorter duration of mechanical ventilation carried out prior to tracheotomy, while the duration of mechanical ventilation and the length of stay in Intensive Care Unit after tracheotomy were similar in both groups, suggesting that the procedure itself and not its timing influenced the duration of mechanical ventilation and the length of stay in Intensive Care Unit of tracheotomized patients.