Immediate Postoperative Complications in Adult Tracheostomy

• Published in: Curēus (Palo Alto, CA) CA), 2020-12, Vol.12 (12), p.e12228
• Main Authors: Bathula, Samba Siva, Srikantha, Luxman, Patrick, Tyler, Stern, Noah A
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: General Surgery; Otolaryngology; Trauma
• ISSN: 2168-8184; 2168-8184
• DOI: 10.7759/cureus.12228

Objective Tracheostomy is one of the oldest operations for the management of airway obstruction. With time, indications expanded to prolonged mechanical ventilation, and currently, the majority of tracheostomies are done for this reason. There are several techniques used in a tracheostomy procedure, depending on surgeon preference. Immediate complications such as bleeding, pneumothorax, pneumomediastinum, airway fire, and posterior tracheal wall perforation with esophageal injury are rare, although they do occur, and must be managed accordingly. This study aimed to assess differences in types and rates of immediate postoperative complications in patients undergoing tracheostomy when performed under general anesthesia and local anesthesia (awake tracheostomies) at a large academic institution. This is a continuing ongoing literature reporting tracheostomy adverse events. Methods A retrospective chart review was performed to identify patients who underwent tracheostomy placement between January 1, 2013 and December 31, 2019 at the Detroit Medical Center, USA. Postoperative complications such as bleeding, pneumothorax, pneumomediastinum, airway fire, and posterior tracheal perforation were collected along with gender, age, and revision tracheostomy status. IBM SPSS Statistics (IBM Inc., Armonk, USA) was used for statistical analysis with the statical significance defined as a p