title: [Results of an artificial airway management protocol in critical patients subjected to mechanical ventilation].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the results of the implementation of a protocol in an intensive care unit (ICU) referred to critically ill patients requiring a prolonged artificial airway.
  
  
  METHODS
  A prospective, observational cohort study was carried out.
  
  
  METHODS
  Management strategies were established on the airway by endotracheal intubation (ETI) or tracheostomy, and guidelines were developed for action in the decannulation process.
  
  
  METHODS
  A polyvalent ICU.
  
  
  METHODS
  We studied 169 patients subjected to mechanical ventilation (MV), 67 with ETI ≥ 10 days of MV and 102 with percutaneous (PT) or surgical tracheostomy (TQ).
  
  
  METHODS
  ICU and hospital stays, days of ETI and MV, mortality, tracheostomy, anatomical risk factors, surgical complications, and postoperative decannulation period.
  
  
  RESULTS
  ETI versus tracheotomy involved fewer days of MV (17 vs. 30 days, p<0.001), a shorter ICU stay (20 vs. 35 days, p<0.001), and a shorter hospital stay (34 vs. 51 days, p<0.001).There were more TQ procedures in patients with risk factors (47% TP vs. 89% TQ, p<0.001). Intraoperative minor bleeding was the most common complication, being associated with TQ (31% vs. 11%, p = 0.03). TP was associated with a shorter cannulationperiod (25 days vs. 34 days, p<0.04).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The protocol variants showed no differences in terms of complications and mortality, when orienting application to patients with similar characteristics.
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Cuidados Intensivos, Complejo Asistencial de Palencia, Palencia, España. prietomir@hotmail.com
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Prieto-González
authors.forename: J B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: López-Messa
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Moradillo-González
authors.forename: Z M
authors.initials: ZM
authors.lastname: Franzón-Laz
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ortega-Sáez
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Poncela-Blanco
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Alonso-Castañeira
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Andrés-de Llano
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D058109:Airway Management / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D002985:Clinical Protocols; D016638:Critical Illness / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007362:Intensive Care Units; D007442:Intubation, Intratracheal / Q000592:standards; D007902:Length of Stay; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012121:Respiration, Artificial; D014139:Tracheostomy / Q000592:standards; D014140:Tracheotomy / Q000592:standards