Amer Sabih Hydri, Irfan Saeed, Fatima Siddiqui, Munazza Jamshed Sandila, Junaid Hussain, Qurat-ul Ain Rukhsar.
Outcome of surgical tracheostomy in an intensive care unit.
Rawal Med J Jan ;42(1):116-20.

Objective: To determine the outcome of patients undergoing surgical tracheostomy (ST) in an intensive care unit (ICU). Methodology: All patients irrespective of age and gender requiring surgical tracheostomy and admitted to the intensive care unit, either prior to or following surgery were enrolled in this study. The indications, comorbid condition, length of stay in ICU, whether intubated or not and the outcome were recorded. Patients requiring percutaneous dilational tracheostomy were excluded. Results: Surgical tracheostomy was performed in 85 out of 1695 patients (5.01%) admitted to ICU over 18 months. Of these 85 patients, male: female ratio was 2.69:1. The age ranged from 5 days to 83 years (mean of 44.98±18.93 years). Mostly medical conditions warranted the need for tracheostomy (61.17%), followed by surgical causes/trauma (38.82%). Successful weaning (Decannulation) was carried out in 57 patients (67.05%) between 2~46 days. Conclusions: Weaning or decannulation and prognosis of surgical tracheostomy are not as much dependent on the timing of tracheostomy, than on the underlying comorbidity and indication for tracheostomy.

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