title: Pediatric bedside tracheostomy in the pediatric intensive care unit: six-year experience.
abstract: In this study, we evaluated the experience of a single center pediatric intensive care unit in pediatric bedside tracheostomies performed during a six-year period. Thirty-one bedside tracheostomies were performed on 31 patients aged 2 months to 18 years. The major indication for tracheostomy was prolonged ventilator dependence. Twenty-two complications, 6 major and 16 minor, were observed in 18 patients. Early complications were observed in 5 patients and all were managed immediately without serious outcomes. Ten patients died during the study period and only one death was directly related to the tracheostomy; the remaining 9 patients died due to their underlying disease. Eleven patients were successfully decannulated, 12 patients were discharged home with their tracheostomies and 5 of these 12 patients required home ventilation. Although children who required tracheostomy had a high overall mortality (32.3%), the prognosis of these patients depends primarily on the underlying medical condition.
authors.affiliation: Intensive Care Unit, Department of Pediatrics, Ege University Faculty of Medicine, Izmir, Turkey.
authors.forename: Bülent
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Karapinar
authors.forename: Mehmet Tayyip
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Arslan
authors.forename: Coşkun
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ozcan
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000402:Airway Obstruction / Q000601:surgery; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D017052:Hospital Mortality; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D015278:Intensive Care Units, Pediatric / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D019095:Point-of-Care Systems / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014139:Tracheostomy / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*