Evaluation of Percutaneous Tracheostomy Cases at An Tertiary Care Center Intensive Care Unit

Abstract

Aim: Percutaneous tracheostomy is frequently performed in intensive care units, especially in patients requiring long-term mechanical ventilatory support. It has advantages such as providing safe airway, facilitating the aspiration of the airways and reducing the length of stay in the intensive care unit. In this study, we aimed to retrospectively evaluate the percutaneous tracheostomy cases that we opened with the seldinger method at a tertiary care center intensive care unit.Materials and Methods: Our study was performed retrospectively. The records of 78 patients who underwent percutaneous tracheostomy between June 15, 2016 and August 30, 2018 were included. Patients with surgical and local infection at the intervention site, short neck and large thyroid tissue, cervical vertebra fracture or neck extension restriction, morbid obese and patients under 18 years of age were excluded from the study.Results: 78 patients were included in our study. the mean length of stay in the ICU was 39 days; mean duration of tracheostomy was 16.3 days. Most of the patients were admitted to intensive care unit due to serbrovascular and cardiovascular diseases. . Hypotension was detected in four patients after tracheostomy, while wound infection and subcutaneous emphysema were found in one patient. Conclusion: Percutaneous tracheostomy is an easy method that can be applied to bedside in a short time in patients who need mechanical ventilation for a long time. Intubation and prolonged mechanical ventilator is a useful method that is frequently used in intensive care patients because it reduces side effects, improves patient comfort and facilitates patient care. Complications can be minimized if appropriate patient selection is performed by an experienced physician.