Cricotracheal resection in children 2 years of age and younger.
OBJECTIVE
We examine the surgical outcomes of cricotracheal resection in children 2 years of age and younger.


METHODS
We performed a retrospective case study involving a single tertiary care children's hospital. All patients who underwent cricotracheal resection from 1993 through January 2006 were included. Patients 2 years old and younger were compared to patients more than 2 years of age (range, 2 to 44 years). The primary outcomes measured were decannulation and complication rates. We used chi2 analyses for categorical variables to detect differences in proportions, Student's t-tests for continuous data, and logistical regression to explore for confounding. Significance was set at alpha = .05, 2-tailed.


RESULTS
Fifteen children 2 years of age or younger were identified. Most patients underwent a single-stage operation (n = 12). The overall decannulation rate was 87% (2 failures). Two patients younger than 2 years had postoperative complications, including 1 patient who developed anastomosis dehiscence. When compared to the patients over 2 years of age, patients younger than 2 were more likely to undergo a single-stage procedure (p < .01). Additionally, the cricotracheal resection was more likely to be their first attempt at airway reconstruction (p = .002). Complication and decannulation rates were similar in both groups.


CONCLUSIONS
Cricotracheal resection can be performed safely and effectively in children less than 2 years old.
Johnson
Romaine F
RF
Department of Pediatric Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Cincinnati Children's Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA.
Rutter
Michael
M
Cotton
Robin
R
Vijayasekeran
Shyan
S
White
David
D
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003413:Cricoid Cartilage / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007829:Laryngostenosis / Q000601:surgery*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014140:Tracheotomy