The tracheoarterial fistula is an unusual but devastating complication of tracheostomy. It occurs with a frequency of approximately 0.7%, and it is uniformly fatal if not recognized and surgically corrected. Mucosal damage from the tracheal cannula, pressure necrosis from high cuff pressure, or mucosal trauma from an improperly positioned cannula tip results in erosion through the tracheal wall...

OBJECTIVE To compare the outcomes and the short- and long-term complications of percutaneous translaryngeal tracheostomy (TLT) and surgical tracheostomy (ST). DESIGN Prospective, randomized clinical trial with 1-yr double-blind follow-up. SETTING A general intensive care unit of a university hospital. PATIENTS A total of 139 consecutive critically ill patients who required a tracheostomy ...

experience has compelled us to write this letter as several patients, referred to our hospital and labelled slow-weaners, made rapid progress when upsized to a larger internal diameter (ID) tracheostomy. Accelerated weaning with larger ID tracheostomies is partially explained by physical principles. Flow through the airways (natural and artifi cial) is both turbulent and laminar. Flow through a...

BACKGROUND Tracheostomies are performed to improve health-related quality of life (QOL) in patients requiring prolonged mechanical ventilation. As the lengths of stay in intensive care units (ICU) increase and higher rates of tracheostomies are becoming more prevalent, issues regarding patient perceptions of their own prognoses and outcomes after tracheostomy can considerably impact QOL and in ...

Aim: Percutaneous tracheostomy (PT) application has advantages such as being able to be applied at the bedside in a short time and less bleeding. It is frequently preferred intensive care units with indications prolonged artificial respiration requirement, facilitating weaning, providing emergency airway. an alternative method surgical tracheostomy. In this study, we aimed retrospectively evalu...

Percutaneous tracheostomy was initiated as an alternative to open tracheostomy at our institution in December 1993. To assess safety, operative time, and cost, a comparative analysis of percutaneous and open tracheostomies was performed. A retrospective evaluation of all patients who underwent percutaneous tracheostomy (P) from December 1993 to March 1996 was completed. Patients were evaluated ...

BACKGROUND Up to 30% of patients with supratentorial intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) require mechanical ventilation during the course of treatment. For these patients, tracheostomy is necessary in cases of protracted weaning. As only limited data exist about predictors for a tracheostomy in patients with ICH, the aim of this study was to investigate the frequency of tracheostomy and clinical fin...

The mortality risk associated with surgical tracheostomy has declined from 3–4% quoted in studies before 1985 to < 1%. The total complication rate has also declined over the same period from up to 90% to < 40%. The complication rate is doubled in ICU versus non-ICU patients and in tracheostomies performed in emergency situations. This is mainly due to an 8-fold increase in the intra-operative (...