Efficacy and Safety of an Aerosol Box for Percutaneous Tracheostomy in Patients with COVID-19 in an Intensive Care Unit

OBJECTIVE To assess whether the use of an aerosol box for percutaneous tracheostomy in patients with COVID-19 can protect healthcare workers and affect procedure-related outcomes complications. STUDY DESIGN Descriptive study. PLACE AND DURATION OF Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University Hospital, Canakkale, Turkey from March to August, 2020. METHODOLOGY A retrospective evaluation patients, who underwent box, was conducted. Patients aged over 18 years, diagnosed requiring were included. Exclusion criteria were: age under years refusal participate Patients' age, gender, comorbidities, APACHE II scores at intensive care admission, numbers intubated days, durations opening time, complications recorded. RESULTS Twenty-four procedure. Tracheostomy performed successfully all 24 cases (100%). The mean 67.2 ± 10.1 years. Four experienced minor bleeding related performing using box. No infected SARS-CoV-2 while CONCLUSION Use had adequate efficacy safety performance procedure COVID-19, being followed up unit. This could be used as alternative traditional methods contagious respiratory infections. Key Words: Tracheostomy, Intensive unit, Aerosol