A significant proportion of trauma patients require tracheostomy during intensive care unit stay. The timing of this procedure remains a subject of debate. The decision for tracheostomy should take into consideration the risks and benefits of prolonged endotracheal intubation versus tracheostomy. Timing of tracheostomy is also influenced by the indications for the procedure, which include relie...

Tracheostomy is an invasive procedure that creates a surgical airway in the cervical trachea and is commonly performed in critically ill patients requiring prolonged mechanical ventilation (MV). Although it is an invasive surgical procedure it has many potential benefits, including reduced sedation requirements, airway security, reduced dead space and airway resistance and improved patient comf...

BACKGROUND Presence of a tracheostomy tube often decreases the patient's ability to communicate and to tolerate oral intake. The initial tracheostomy tube change is often recommended between day 7 and 14 post insertion. Local guidelines permit tracheostomy tube change 5 days after insertion. OBJECTIVE We hypothesized that changing tracheostomy tubes before day 7 is associated with earlier use...

INTRODUCTION Recent studies have demonstrated the feasibility of real-time ultrasound guidance during percutaneous dilatational tracheostomy, including in patients with risk factors such as coagulopathy, cervical spine immobilization and morbid obesity. Use of real-time ultrasound guidance has been shown to improve the technical accuracy of percutaneous dilatational tracheostomy; however, it is...

Tracheostomy tubes are used to administer positive-pressure ventilation, to provide a patent airway, to provide protection from aspiration, and to provide access to the lower respiratory tract for airway clearance. They are available in a variety of sizes and styles, from several manufacturers. The dimensions of tracheostomy tubes are given by their inner diameter, outer diameter, length, and c...

In any event, ventilation of the newborn must be realized with an appropriate technique within the period till the achievement of emergency tracheostomy, provision of successful intubation, or wakening of the newborn. Every anesthesiologist should be wellinformed of and familiar with at least one technique for ensuring transtracheal oxygenation in emergencies. It is also important to have the r...

OBJECTIVE Evaluate parental perceptions associated with tracheostomy morbidity and quality of life in the management of Pierre Robin Sequence (PRS). STUDY DESIGN Retrospective review/survey. METHODS 42 Pierre Robin patients were identified, records were reviewed and airway assessments evaluated relative to airway compromise. Twenty patients had undergone tracheostomy. Perceptions of quality...

OBJECTIVES The aim of this study is to present our experience with elective surgical tracheostomy for intensive care unit (ICU) patients who needed prolonged translaryngeal intubation in order to evaluate the proper timing and advantages of early vs. late tracheostomy and to stress upon the risks associated with delayed tracheostomy. METHODS Medical records of all patients, who underwent elec...

OBJECTIVE To determine risk factors associated with tracheostomy placement after severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) and subsequent outcomes among those who did and did not receive a tracheostomy. METHODS This retrospective cohort study compared adult trauma patients with severe TBI (n = 583) who did and did not receive tracheostomy. A multivariable logistic regression model assessed the asso...

BACKGROUND Although the benefits of early tracheostomy have been discussed in numerous studies, it is still unclear whether it is safe to perform early tracheostomy on unstable stroke patients. The purpose of this study is to assess the influences of the timing of tracheostomy on the incidence of complications following surgical tracheostomy in stroke patients. METHODS We retrospectively perf...