A comparative study of complications and long term outcomes of Surgical Tracheostomy and two techniques of Percutaneous Tracheostomy

Clinical application of PEAK PlasmaBlade to remove distal tracheal granulation in patients after tracheostomy

OBJECTIVE

Tracheal granulation is one of the common long term complications in patients after tracheostomy. Hypertrophic tracheal granulation may cause airway obstruction and further operation may be required to recreate an airway. Distal tracheal granulation is clinically challenging because of its position and surgical field limitation. This retrospective case review study evaluated the outcomes of PEAK PlasmaBlade-assisted tracheal surgery in patients with distal tracheal granulation.

METHODS

This study retrospectively reviewed patients with distal tracheal granulation following long-term tracheostomy. All patients received PEAK PlasmaBlade assistance tracheal surgery (PATS) between February 2013 and December 2019. The surgery was performed using the PEAK PlasmaBlade with TnA type tip, powered by a PULSAR Generator, and guided by a 45 ° rigid endoscope. Patients were regularly followed up for a minimum of 12 months.

RESULTS

A total 21 patients had completed PATS. None of the patients experience immediate life-threatening complications during or after the procedure. All the 21 patients were free of recurrent obstructive granulation within 12 months after operation.

CONCLUSION

PATS is practical, effective, and safe for distal tracheal granulation and can be performed by single surgeon. Furthermore, it is technically less demanding than other surgical approaches and it has a rapid learning curve.

Speech and Swallowing Function Outcome Following Early Tracheostomy in Patients Who Underwent Neurosurgical Intervention

Background:

Evaluation of late-onset speech and swallowing complications of tracheostomy on neurotrauma cases, as the most common intensive care unit procedure, needs to be evaluated.

Objectives:

A prospective study conducted in a tertiary care teaching hospital to find the late-onset speech and swallowing complications of tracheostomy in neurotrauma cases.

Materials and Methods:

This prospective observational study was conducted in the intensive care unit on intubated patients needing elective tracheostomy at a tertiary care teaching institute in South India with a dedicated referral trauma center. A data collection tool was prepared to find age, gender, date of admission, tracheostomy, and discharge, contact address and number, initial and final diagnosis, initial Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) on admission and subsequent GCS before and after tracheostomy, ventilator settings before and after the tracheostomy, procedure and intraoperative complications, type of cannula used, details of decannulation, and respiratory difficulties.

Results:

In our study among 69 cases between 16 and 75 years' age range with mean 46.67 ± 16.65, majority were males (75.36%) and 60 were cranial cases (86.96%). Of the alive cases (21 [30.43%]) who underwent tracheostomy; 18 were performed in operation theater and 3 as bedside procedure. Major problems reported were: Speech problems (not able to phonate) (9), feeble voice (6), pain while speaking (6), and reduced loudness (6), frequent throat clearing while speaking (4), cough while speaking (3); breathlessness while speaking (1), gasping while speaking (1) and vocal tiredness (1); aspirations (2) and painful swallowing (1).

Conclusions:

Our study suggested that though, majority of neurotrauma patients require tracheostomy for long term ventilator support and associated speech and swallowing problems are expected.

Urgent tracheostomy: four-year experience in a tertiary hospital

BACKGROUND

Urgent airway management is one of the most important responsibilities of otolaryngologists, often requiring a multidisciplinary approach. Urgent surgical airway intervention is indicated when an acute airway obstruction occurs or there are intubation difficulties. In these situations, surgical tracheostomy becomes extremely important.

METHODS

We retrospectively studied the patients who underwent surgical tracheostomy from 2011 to 2014 by an otolaryngologist team at the operating theater of the emergency department of a tertiary hospital. Indications, complications and clinical evolution of the patients were reviewed.

RESULTS

The study included 56 patients (44 men and 12 women) with a median age of 55 years. The procedure was performed under local anesthesia in 21.4% of the patients. Two (3.6%) patients were subjected to conversion from cricothyrostomy to tracheostomy. Head and neck neoplasm was indicated in 44.6% of the patients, deep neck infection in 19.6%, and bilateral vocal fold paralysis in 10.7%. Stridor was the most frequent signal (51.8%). Of the 56 patients, 15 were transferred to another hospital. Among the other 41 patients, 21 were decannulated (average time: 4 months), and none of them were cancer patients. Complications occurred in 5 (12.2%) patients: hemorrhage in 3, surgical wound infection in 1, and cervico-thoracic subcutaneous emphysema in 1. No death was related to the procedure.

CONCLUSION

Urgent tracheostomy is a life-saving procedure for patients with acute airway obstruction or with difficult intubation. It is a safe and effective procedure, with a low complication rate, and should be performed before the patient's clinical status turns into a surgical emergency situation.