BACKGROUND Some pediatric patients receiving therapeutic aerosols undergo tracheostomy, and others who are tracheostomized continue requiring inhaled therapies upon decannulation. It is unknown whether a dose adjustment is required. Different devices are available for facial and tracheostomy delivery, and in some instances, the assisted technique is used. We hypothesized that the change from fa...

BACKGROUND Tracheostomy wounds are commonly encountered in children but rarely reported. Relatively few treatments are available or have been investigated to manage this problem. Healing times for pediatric tracheostomy wounds are often unpredictable and protracted. Recent use of maltodextrin gel (MD) and a silver alginate sponge (AG) at our institution has demonstrated expedited healing and in...

Tracheostomy is a life saving procedure and many patients are discharged with permanent tracheostomy tubes. We report the rare occurrence of a fractured tracheostomy tube migrating into the tracheobronchial tree and highlight the clinical manifestations of this uncommon complication that carries the potential risk of fatal respiratory obstruction.

Background/Introduction The 2014 National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death(NCEPOD) highlighted hospital tracheostomy care as a significant patient safety issue (1) Tracheostomy-related complications occur frequently in ward patients, and are potentially life-threatening. (2) Rapid recognition and management of blocked or displaced tracheostomy tubes is essential. According to...

Tracheostomy is a relatively common surgical procedure that is performed easily in an operating room or intensive care unit. Open tracheostomy is needed in patients requiring prolonged ventilation when percutaneous tracheostomy is inappropriate. Sometimes, it is difficult to achieve bleeding control in the peritracheal soft tissue, and in such cases, we usually use diathermy. However, the possi...

OBJECTIVE To compare percutaneous with surgical tracheostomy using a meta-analysis of studies published from 1960 to 1996. DATA SOURCES Publications obtained through a MEDLINE database search with a Boolean combination (tracheostomy or tracheotomy) and complications, with constraints for human studies and English language. STUDY SELECTION Publications addressing all peri- and postoperative ...

Patients requiring tracheostomies tend to have a longer length of stay due to their underlying disease. After a thorough literature search, Garrubba and colleagues found only three studies assessing the impact of multidisciplinary teams (MDTs) on tracheostomy patients on the ward. One consistent observation was the decreased time to decannulation after institution of MDT care when compared with...