Short- and long-term complications of surgical and percutaneous dilatation tracheotomies: a large single-centre retrospective cohort study

Predicting Tracheostomy Need on Admission to the Intensive Care Unit-A Multicenter Machine Learning Analysis

OBJECTIVE

It is difficult to predict which mechanically ventilated patients will ultimately require a tracheostomy which further predisposes them to unnecessary spontaneous breathing trials, additional time on the ventilator, increased costs, and further ventilation-related complications such as subglottic stenosis. In this study, we aimed to develop a machine learning tool to predict which patients need a tracheostomy at the onset of admission to the intensive care unit (ICU).

STUDY DESIGN

Retrospective Cohort Study.

SETTING

Multicenter Study of 335 Intensive Care Units between 2014 and 2015.

METHODS

The eICU Collaborative Research Database (eICU-CRD) was utilized to obtain the patient cohort. Inclusion criteria included: (1) Age >18 years and (2) ICU admission requiring mechanical ventilation. The primary outcome of interest included tracheostomy assessed via a binary classification model. Models included logistic regression (LR), random forest (RF), and Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost).

RESULTS

Of 38,508 invasively mechanically ventilated patients, 1605 patients underwent a tracheostomy. The XGBoost, RF, and LR models had fair performances at an AUROC 0.794, 0.780, and 0.775 respectively. Limiting the XGBoost model to 20 features out of 331, a minimal reduction in performance was observed with an AUROC of 0.778. Using Shapley Additive Explanations, the top features were an admission diagnosis of pneumonia or sepsis and comorbidity of chronic respiratory failure.

CONCLUSIONS

Our machine learning model accurately predicts the probability that a patient will eventually require a tracheostomy upon ICU admission, and upon prospective validation, we have the potential to institute earlier interventions and reduce the complications of prolonged ventilation.

Tracheostomy-related data from an intensive care unit for two consecutive years before the COVID-19 pandemic

BACKGROUND

Tracheostomy is commonly used in intensive care unit (ICU) patients who are expected to be on long-term mechanical ventilation or suffer from emergency upper airway obstruction. However, some studies have conflicting findings regarding the optimal technique and its timing and benefits.

AIM

To provide evidence of practice, characteristics, and outcome concerning tracheostomy in an ICU of a tertiary care hospital.

METHODS

This was a retrospective cohort study including adult critical care patients in a single ICU for two consecutive years. Patients' demographic characteristics, severity of illness (APACHE II score), level of consciousness [Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS)], comorbidities, timing and type of tracheostomy procedure performed and outcome were recorded. We defined late as tracheostomy placement after 8 days or no tracheotomy.

RESULTS

Data of 660 patients were analyzed (median age of 60 years), median APACHE II score of 19 and median GCS score of 12 at admission. Tracheostomy was performed in 115 patients, of whom 63 had early and 52 late procedures. Early tracheostomy was mainly executed in case of altered level of consciousness and severe critical illness polyneuromyopathy, however there were no significant statistical results (47.6% vs 36.5%, P = 0.23) and (23.8% vs 19.2%, P = 0.55) respectively. Regarding the method selected, early surgical tracheostomy (ST) was conducted in patients with maxillofacial injuries (50.0% vs 0.0%, P = 0.033), whereas late surgical tracheostomy was selected for patients with goiter (44.4% vs 0.0% P = 0.033). Patients with early tracheostomy spent significantly fewer days on mechanical ventilation (15.3 ± 8.5 vs 22.8 ± 9.6, P < 0.001) and in ICU in general (18.8 ± 9.1 vs 25.4 ± 11.5, P < 0.001). Percutaneous dilatation tracheostomy (PDT) vs ST was preferable in older critical care patients in the case of Central Nervous System underlying cause of admission (62.5% vs 26.3%, P = 0.004). ST was the method of choice in compromised airway (31.6%, vs 7.3% P = 0.008). A large proportion of patients (88/115) with tracheostomy managed to wean from mechanical ventilation and were transferred out of the ICU (100% vs 17.4%, P < 0.001).

CONCLUSION

PDT was performed more frequently in our cohort. This technique did not affect mechanical ventilation days, ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP), ICU length of stay, or survival. No complications were observed in the percutaneous or surgical tracheostomy groups. Patients undergoing early tracheostomy benefited in terms of mechanical ventilation days and ICU length of stay but not of discharge status, presence of VAP, or survival.

Tracheal Stenosis in Open Versus Percutaneous Tracheostomy

OBJECTIVE

This study aims to investigate if there is an increased risk of developing tracheal stenosis after tracheostomy with an open versus percutaneous tracheostomy.

METHODS

The patient cohort included patients receiving open or percutaneous tracheostomies at Catholic Health Initiatives Midwest facilities from January 2017 to June 2023. The primary aim was to compare the differences in the risk of developing tracheal stenosis between open and percutaneous tracheostomy techniques. Between-technique differences in the risk of developing tracheal stenosis were assessed via a Cox proportional hazard model. To account for death precluding patients from developing tracheal stenosis, death was considered a competing risk.

RESULTS

A total of 828 patients met inclusion criteria (61.7% open, 38.3% percutaneous); 2.5% (N = 21) developed tracheal stenosis. The median number of days to develop tracheal stenosis was 84 (interquartile range: 60 to 243, range: 6 to 739). Tracheal stenosis was more frequent in patients who received a percutaneous tracheostomy (percutaneous: 3.5% vs. open: 2.0%); however, the risk of developing tracheal stenosis was statistically similar between open and percutaneous techniques (HR: 2.05, 95% CI: 0.86-4.94, p = 0.108).

CONCLUSIONS

This study demonstrates no significant difference in the development of tracheal stenosis when performing an open versus a percutaneous tracheostomy. Tracheal stenosis is a long-term complication of tracheostomy and should not influence the decision about the surgical technique used.

Biomechanical Evaluation of Tracheal Needle Puncture Forces: Comparative Analysis of Annular Ligaments and Tracheal Cartilage

Percutaneous tracheotomies (PCT) are commonly performed minimally invasive procedures involving the creation of an airway opening through an incision or puncture of the tracheal wall. While the medical intervention is crucial for critical care and the management of acute respiratory failure, tracheostomy complications can lead to severe clinical symptoms due to the alterations of the airways biomechanical properties/structures. The causes and mechanisms underlaying the development of these post-tracheotomy complications remain largely unknown. In this study, we aimed to investigate the needle puncture process and its biomechanical characteristics by using a well establish porcine ex vivo trachea to simulate the forces involved in accessing airways during PCT at varying angular approaches. Given that many procedures involve inserting a needle into the trachea without direct visualization of the tracheal wall, concerns have been raised over the needle punctures through the cartilaginous rings as compared to the space between them may result in fractured cartilage and post-tracheostomy airway complications. We report a difference in puncture force between piercing the cartilage and the annular ligaments and observe that the angle of puncture does not significantly alter the puncture forces. The data collected in this study can guide the design of relevant biomechanical feedback system during airway access procedures and ultimately help refine and optimize PCT.

Percutaneous tracheostomy: Comparison of three different methods with respect to tracheal cartilage injury in cadavers—Randomized controlled study

Background: Performing tracheostomy improves patient comfort and success rate of weaning from prolonged invasive mechanical ventilation. Data suggest that patients have more benefit of percutaneous technique than the surgical procedure, however, there is no consensus on the percutaneous method of choice regarding severe complications such as late tracheal stenosis. Aim of this study was comparing incidences of cartilage injury caused by different percutaneous dilatation techniques (PDT), including Single Dilator, Griggs’ and modified (bidirectional) Griggs’ method.

Materials and methods: Randomized observational study was conducted on 150 cadavers underwent post-mortem percutaneous tracheostomy. Data of cadavers including age, gender and time elapsed from death until the intervention (more or less than 72 h) were collected and recorded. Primary and secondary outcomes were: rate of cartilage injury and cannula malposition respectively.

Results: Statistical analysis revealed that method of intervention was significantly associated with occurrence of cartilage injury, as comparing either standard Griggs’ with Single Dilator (p = 0.002; OR: 4.903; 95% CI: 1.834–13.105) or modified Griggs’ with Single Dilator (p &lt; 0.001; OR: 6.559; 95% CI: 2.472–17.404), however, no statistical difference was observed between standard and modified Griggs’ techniques (p = 0.583; OR: 0.748; 95% CI: 0.347–1.610). We found no statistical difference in the occurrence of cartilage injury between the early- and late post-mortem group (p = 0.630). Neither gender (p = 0.913), nor age (p = 0.529) influenced the rate of cartilage fracture. There was no statistical difference between the applied PDT techniques regarding the cannula misplacement/malposition.

Conclusion: In this cadaver study both standard and modified Griggs’ forceps dilatational methods were safer than Single dilator in respect of cartilage injury.

Evaluation of post-tracheostomy scars and their impact on persons' quality of life: A case-control study

Tracheostomy is one of the more commonly performed procedures in critically ill patients under mechanical ventilation. Postoperative scarring is one of the bothersome sequelae of tracheostomies. Scars distort physical appearance, especially when found on the head and neck, which could have a negative impact on quality of life. The aim of this study was to evaluate and assess the impact of post-tracheostomy scars on quality of life according to the tracheostomy method. A prospective, single-center, observational, case-control study was conducted. One hundred fifty-six persons with a post-tracheostomy surgical scar for more than four months were observed using the Patient and Observer Scar Assessment Scale and Dermatology Life Quality Index questionnaire. Persons were divided into two groups depending on the method of tracheostomy, and the duration of the cannulated period was considered in both groups. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS ver. 16.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA), and P values of <0.05 were considered significant. The patients who had a tracheostomic tube cannulation period of fewer than 15 days had better cosmetic results than those who had tracheostomic tubes for more than 15 days, regardless of the tracheostomy method: 6.64 ± 0.082 versus 16.15 ± 0.096 (P < 0.001) in the surgical tracheostomy group and 7.26 ± 0.211 versus 14.17 ± 0.379 (P < 0.05) in the percutaneous dilatational group. The Dermatology Life Quality Index scores had a mean value of 0.6 ± 0.01, which means that post-tracheostomy scarring in the present study had no effect on the person's quality of life. The aesthetic outcomes of post-tracheostomy scars after the open surgical tracheostomy technique did not significantly differ from those of the percutaneous dilatational technique in the present study. Persons with a long duration of tracheostomic tube ventilation showed worse aesthetic outcomes than those with short-term tracheostomic cannulation, which was not dependent on the tracheostomy technique. The Dermatology Life Quality Index showed that post-ttracheostomy scarring in the present study had no effect on the person's quality of life.

Utilization and outcomes of tracheostomies in the intensive care unit in Iceland in 2007-2020: A descriptive study

BACKGROUND

Tracheostomies are commonly utilized in ICU patients due to prolonged mechanical ventilation, upper airway obstruction, or surgery in the face/neck region. However, practices regarding the timing of placement and utilization vary. This study provides a nationwide overview of tracheostomy utilization and outcomes in the ICU over a 14-year period.

METHODS

A retrospective study including all patients that received a tracheostomy during their ICU stay in Iceland between 2007 and 2020. Data were retrieved from hospital records on admission cause, comorbidities, indication for tracheostomy insertion, duration of mechanical ventilation before and after tracheostomy placement, extubation attempts, complications, length of ICU and hospital stay and survival. Descriptive statistics were provided, and survival analysis was performed using Cox regression.

RESULTS

A total of 336 patients (median age 64 years, 33% females) received a tracheostomy during the study period. The most common indication for tracheostomy insertion was respiratory failure, followed by neurological disorders. The median duration of mechanical ventilation prior to tracheostomy insertion was 9 days and at least one extubation had been attempted in 35% of the cases. Percutaneous tracheostomies were 32%. The overall rate of complications was 25% and the most common short-term complication was bleeding (5%). In-hospital mortality was 33%. The one- and five-year survival rate was 60% and 44%, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

We describe a whole-nation practice of tracheostomies. A notable finding is the relatively low rate of extubation attempts prior to tracheostomy insertion. Future work should focus on standardization of assessing the need for tracheostomy and the role of extubation attempts prior to tracheostomy placement.

Laryngotracheal Complications in Intubated COVID-19 Patients

During the current COVID-19 pandemic, several emerging cases of laryngotracheal stenosis following prolonged intubation and tracheostomy are being reported. The patients’ pre-existing comorbidities, the disease itself and the pronation maneuvers increase the risk for endolaryngeal and tracheal damage. In this commentary, we report 4 such patients with acquired severe laryngotracheal stenosis. We describe their airway lesions, the surgical treatment they received, and the outcomes.

Percutaneous Tracheostomy in COVID-19 Critically Ill Patients: Experience from 30 Consecutive Procedures

Introduction  Percutaneous tracheostomy (PT) in the intensive care unit (ICU) is a well-established practice that shows a reduced risk of wound infection compared with surgical tracheostomy, thus facilitating mechanical ventilation, nursing procedures, reduction in sedation and early mobilization. Objective  This is an observational case-control study that compares the results of PT in ICU patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) prospectively enrolled to a similar group of subjects, retrospectively recruited, without COVID-19. Methods  Ninety-eight consecutive COVID-19 patients admitted to the ICU at Pisa Azienda Ospedaliero Universitaria Pisana between March 11th and May 20 ^th , 2020 were prospectively studied. Thirty of them underwent PT using different techniques. Another 30 non-COVID-19 ICU patients were used as a control-group. The main outcome was to evaluate the safety and feasibility of PT in COVID-19 patients. We measured the rate of complications. Results  Percutaneous tracheostomy was performed with different techniques in 30 of the 98 COVID-19 ICU patients admitted to the ICU. Tracheostomy was performed on day 10 (mean 10 ± 3.3) from the time of intubation. Major tracheal complications occurred in 5 patients during the procedure. In the control group of 30 ICU patients, no differences were found with regards to the timing of the tracheostomy, whereas a statistically significant difference was observed regarding complications with only one tracheal ring rupture reported. Conclusion  Percutaneous tracheostomy in COVID-19 patients showed a higher rate of complications compared with controls even though the same precautions and the same expertise were applied. Larger studies are needed to understand whether the coronavirus disease itself carries an increased risk of tracheal damage.

Ultrasound guided percutaneous dilatation tracheotomy (US-PDT) to prevent potentially life-threatening complications: A case report

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Percutaneous dilatation tracheotomy enables non-surgeons to perform tracheotomies at patients bedside.

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Bleeding is a common complication of percutaneous dilatation tracheotomies.

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Performing a pre-operative neck ultrasound can help identifying aberrant vessels and reduce the risk of periprocedural bleeding.

Introduction

Percutaneous dilatation tracheotomy (PDT) is a relatively recent technique that enables non surgeons to perform tracheotomies at bedside reducing operation rooms schedules. It is burdened by a moderate risk of postoperative bleeding.

Presentation of case

The patient was a 57 years old with a temporal intraparenchymal hematoma, submitted to percutaneous dilatation tracheotomy. Despite the favorable anatomical features, a pre-procedural US was performed, identifying a pulsating vessel with an arterial pattern, 2 cm above the hollow. The procedure was then considered at high risk, an operation room was required for the technique and an on-call surgeon was alerted.

The procedure was ended safely and any bleeding was avoided because the technique was practiced with the best precautions.

Discussion

PDT strength is the possibility for non surgeons to perform tracheotomies in selected patients at bedside, reducing operation rooms congestion. Such technique though is a “blind” technique, and postoperative bleedings can occur and represent a feared complication. Conversely, the surgical tracheotomy permits a better control of hemorrhages, but needs the involvement of a surgeon and availability of an operation room. Performing a PDT guided by a neck ultrasound is useful to identify eventual aberrant vessel whose course could complicate the tracheotomy, it is part of PDT guidelines of some States.

Conclusion

US-PDT could help reducing procedure related complications selecting those high risk patients still in need of operating room and surgical assistance. US-PDT feasibility combined to its easy availability and low costs encourage its introduction into everyday practice.

Otolaryngology during COVID-19: Preventive care and precautionary measures

Since the outbreak of novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in December 2019, it has spread to various regions and countries, forming a global pandemic. Reducing nosocomial infection is a new issue and challenge for all healthcare systems. Otolaryngology is a high-risk specialty as it close contact with upper respiratory tract mucous, secretions, droplets and aerosols during procedures and surgery. Therefore, infection prevention and control measures for this specialty are essential. Literatures on the epidemiology, clinical characteristics and infection control measures of COVID-19 were reviewed, practical knowledge from first-line otolaryngologists in China, the United States, and Brazil were reviewed and collated. It was recommended that otolaryngology professionals should improve screening in suspected patients with relevant nasal and pharyngeal symptoms and signs, suspend non-emergency consultations and examinations in clinics, and rearrange the working procedures in operating rooms. The guidelines of personal protective equipment for swab sampling, endoscopy and surgery were listed. Indications for tracheotomy during the pandemic should be carefully considered to avoid unnecessary airway opening and aerosol-generation; precautions during surgery to reduce the risk of exposure and infection were illustrated. This review aimed to provide recommendations for otolaryngologists to enhance personal protection against COVID-19 and reduce the risk of nosocomial infection.

Long-term intubation and high rate of tracheostomy in COVID-19 patients might determine an unprecedented increase of airway stenoses: a call to action from the European Laryngological Society

INTRODUCTION

The novel Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, may need intensive care unit (ICU) admission in up to 12% of all positive cases for massive interstitial pneumonia, with possible long-term endotracheal intubation for mechanical ventilation and subsequent tracheostomy. The most common airway-related complications of such ICU maneuvers are laryngotracheal granulomas, webs, stenosis, malacia and, less commonly, tracheal necrosis with tracheo-esophageal or tracheo-arterial fistulae.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This paper gathers the opinions of experts of the Laryngotracheal Stenosis Committee of the European Laryngological Society, with the aim of alerting the medical community about the possible rise in number of COVID-19-related laryngotracheal stenosis (LTS), and the aspiration of paving the way to a more rationale concentration of these cases within referral specialist airway centers.

RESULTS

A range of prevention strategies, diagnostic work-up, and therapeutic approaches are reported and framed within the COVID-19 pandemic context.

CONCLUSIONS

One of the most important roles of otolaryngologists when encountering airway-related signs and symptoms in patients with previous ICU hospitalization for COVID-19 is to maintain a high level of suspicion for LTS development, and share it with colleagues and other health care professionals. Such a condition requires specific expertise and should be comprehensively managed in tertiary referral centers.