Percutaneous tracheostomy: it’s time for a shared approach!

In a previous issue of Critical Care, Simon and colleagues [1] reported the incidence of death related to percutaneous tracheostomy (PT). Fatal complications occurred in 31% of cases during the procedure and in 49% of cases within the first week of the tracheostomy [1]. In a later issue of Critical Care, Rajendran and Hutchinson [2] suggested the use of a checklist, adapted from the World Health Organization (WHO) surgical safety checklist, to improve safety and reduce errors and harm related to the PT procedure in critical care. However, a recent observational study performed in 101 hospitals in Ontario, Canada, did not find any reduction in mortality or complications after the implementation of the WHO checklist in more than 100,000 surgical procedures [3].