Bronchoscopy guided percutaneous dilatational tracheostomy; performed by anaesthesiology residents

Abstract

Aims: Percutaneous dilatational tracheostomy can be performed safely at the bedside in critical patients today. Clinical studies on tracheostomy were mostly carried out by experienced healthcare professionals. This study was designed to investigate the differences of percutaneous dilatational tracheostomy performed by anaesthesiology residents using two different methods. Methods: Patients hospitalized in anaesthesia intensive care unit who underwent percutaneous tracheostomy were examined. All tracheostomy procedures were performed by anaesthesiology residents using the “Griggs” or “Ciaglia” method. The procedure time, difficulty and complications of both methods were recorded. Results: 38 patients were included in the study. It was observed that 22 of the patients had tracheostomy with the Griggs technique, and 16 with the Ciaglia technique. Tracheostomy application time was measured as 6.05 minutes with the Griggs technique and 6.35 minutes with the Ciaglia technique (p=0.939). There was no difference in complications and technical difficulties between the two methods. Conclusion: In this study, where bedside bronchoscopy guided percutaneous dilatational tracheostomies were applied by two different methods by anaesthesiology residents, no difference was found between the two methods in terms of complications and technical difficulties. We believe that "Griggs" and "Ciaglia Blue Rhino", two of the percutaneous dilatational tracheostomy methods, are not superior to each other in terms of ease of use and complications in anaesthesiology education.