For decades, the standard technique for tracheostomy was the open, surgical technique. However, during the past 20 years, the use of percutaneous dilatational tracheostomy has been increased and shown to be a feasible and safe procedure in critically ill patients. The purpose of this report is to review the percutaneous dilatational tracheostomy technique, describe the role of bronchoscopy as g...

Tracheostomy is a routinely done procedure in the setting of intensive care unit (ICU) in patients requiring prolonged mechanical ventilation. There are two ways of making a tracheostomy: an open surgical tracheostomy and percutaneous dilatational tracheostomy. Percutaneous dilatational tracheostomy is associated with fewer complications than open tracheostomy. In this study, we would like to c...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the safety and cost-effectiveness of percutaneous dilatational tracheostomy performed in the intensive care unit. DESIGN Retrospective review of 65 patients with cost-effectiveness analysis. SETTING University-affiliated tertiary care teaching hospital with a 34-bed combined medical-surgical intensive care unit. PATIENTS All patients who underwent percutaneous dilata...

INTRODUCTION Recent studies have demonstrated the feasibility of real-time ultrasound guidance during percutaneous dilatational tracheostomy, including in patients with risk factors such as coagulopathy, cervical spine immobilization and morbid obesity. Use of real-time ultrasound guidance has been shown to improve the technical accuracy of percutaneous dilatational tracheostomy; however, it is...

Patients in ICUs frequently require tracheostomy for long-term ventilator support, and the percutaneous dilatational tracheostomy (PDT) method is preferred over surgical tracheostomy. The use of ultrasound (US) imaging to guide ICU procedures and interventions has recently emerged as a simple and noninvasive tool. The current evidence regarding the applications of US in PDT is encouraging; howe...

BACKGROUND Tracheostomy is recommended in case of prolonged mechanical ventilation. Therefore, most patients with an indication for venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) will also have an indication for tracheostomy. CASE PRESENTATION We report 2 cases of fatal air embolism into the ECMO system as complication of percutaneous dilatational tracheostomy. Both patients had an AVA...

Coagulation disorders and an immune-altered state are common among total artificial heart patients. In this context, we sought to evaluate the safety of percutaneous dilatational tracheostomy in cases of prolonged need for mechanical ventilatory support. We retrospectively analysed the charts of 11 total artificial heart patients who received percutaneous dilatational tracheostomy. We focused o...