A clinical study of percutaneous tracheostomy in medical ICU by non surgical doctors.

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Tracheostomy is one of the oldest surgical procedures to access the airway. The majority of cases who require tracheostomy are in ICUs. The ICUs are monitored by intensivists who are mostly Anesthesiologists or Physicians (non-surgical personnel). While doing surgical tracheostomy, there is dependency on other departments like surgeons of ENT department. In most cases, critically ill patients are made to shift to operating room, where we may have to wait for the availability of operating table. Method: This clinical study was carried out to access the airway when required by nonsurgical doctors like anesthesiologists or physicians at bed side and to save cost and operation theatre time. Result: Sixteen male & twelve female patients with an average age of 28 Years (range, 19 to 40Years) underwent PCT from Oct. 2008 to Oct.2011. Fourteen patients were of snake bite, 10 were of organo-phosphorus poisoning & 4 were of G.B. Syndrome. Conclusion: Percutaneous tracheostomy has replaced the surgical route in several intensive care units and it is indeed the procedure of choice in the majority of cases. [Rajan N NJIRM 2014; 5(1)6-9] Key Words Percutaneous Tracheostomy (PCT), Surgical Tracheostomy (ST), Medical intensive care unit (MICU), critically ill, complications, tracheal injury, bleeding.