[Percutanous dilation tracheotomy: our experience].
Percutaneous dilation Tracheotomy (PDT) is becoming a popular alternative to surgical tracheotomy. In our hospital, we recently adopted the use of the PDT in intensive care unit patients.


OBJECTIVE
The objective [corrected] of this investigation is to characterize and quantify the rate of complications for PDT.


METHODS
A prospective study of 60 PDT performed at different intesive care units, betweem September 2002 to July 2003.


RESULTS
The intraoperative time for PDT was 8 minutes. Complications included 6 cases of mild intraoperative hemorrhage, 1 case of moderate intraoperative hemorrhage, 4 cases of mild postoperative hemorrhage and 1 case of subcutaneous emphysema.


CONCLUSIONS
PDT is a good alternative to surgical tracheotomy and should be added to the otolaryngologists armamentarium of surgical airway procedures.
Domènech
I
I
Servicio de Otorrinolaringología del Hospital de Universitario de Bellvitge, Barcelona. 35019idj@comb.es
Mateu
T
T
Cisa
E
E
Juan
A
A
Gil
E
E
Palau
M
M
Dicenta
M
M
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D004106:Dilatation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D014140:Tracheotomy / Q000379:methods*