PURPOSE OF REVIEW Tracheostomy is one of the most common procedures performed in the intensive care unit. Indications, risks, benefits, timing and technique of the procedure, however, remain controversial. The decision of when and how to perform a tracheostomy is often subjective, but must be individualized to the patient. The following review gives an update on recent literature related to tra...

INTRODUCTION Balloon dilatation is a method of choice for treatment of laryngeal stenosis in children. The aim of procedure in apneic pause is to avoid new insertion of tracheostomy cannula. PATIENTS AND METHODS The authors performed balloon dilatation of subglottic laryngeal strictures (SGS) in 5 children (3 girls and 2 boys) without tracheotomy. Two of them with traumatic and inflammatory S...

Background. The standard initial management of patients with locally advanced pharyngolaryngeal presenting with stridor is tracheostomy. Tracheostomy has been shown to negatively impact cancer-related outcomes. Methods. Retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data of 9 patients, who underwent induction chemotherapy with the aim of prevention of tracheostomy. Presenting features, time ...

An increasing number of technology-dependent patients are sent home for long-term home-management of stable chronic illness. With a patient who is going to undergo tracheotomy, patient-education (for the patient and his/her caregivers) should begin early (before the tracheostomy, if possible), should be individualized to the patient, and should include basic airway anatomy, medical justificatio...

Dual-cannulae tracheostomy tubes with low-pressure cuffs, such as the Shiley LPC, are widely regarded as inherently safer than single lumen tubes with low-volume cuffs. For the patient who undergoes tracheostomy for failure to wean from mechanical ventilation, however, the insertion of a tube that occupies a large amount of space within the trachea can delay subsequent efforts to liberate him f...

Background Delay of tracheostomy for roughly 2 weeks after translaryngeal intubation of critically ill patients is the presently recommended practice and is supported by fi ndings from large trials. However, these trials were suboptimally powered to detect small but clinically important eff ects on mortality. We aimed to assess the mortality benefi t of early versus late or no tracheostomy in c...

OBJECTIVE To determine the value of early tracheostomy (within 7 days) in ventilated neurosurgical patients. METHODS Retrospective review of intubated patients in the neurosurgical intensive care unit (NICU) who underwent elective open tracheostomies for prolonged ventilation. RESULTS Thirty patients over a 2-year period were analysed. There were 19 males and 11 females, mean age 53.9 +/- 1...

Tracheostomy is a common procedure in ICU, particularly as an approach for weaning from mechanical ventilation. In mid-1980s percutaneous tracheostomy (PCT) was introduced as a less invasive alternative for the standard surgical tracheostomy. A tracheostomy facilitates weaning from mechanical ventilation, in long-term ventilated patients, by improving airway cleaning, better patient comfort and...

A polytrauma patient on ventilator was admitted to ICU with open tracheostomy, GCS 8/15 and unequal pupils. After 10 days, he was weaned from the ventilator. The patient had respiratory problems i.e. expiratory stridor, shortness of breath, dysphonia and dyspnea on closing tracheostomy. It was diagnosed as a case of asthma, and the patient responded to salbutamol nebulization and intravenous st...