ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: To establish a clinical practice protocol for tracheotomy care of adult patients. METHODS: Though constructive document retrieval, personnel interview and brain-storming, protocol draft was constructed. Delphi method was used in the study, and the final protocol was based on two rounds of consultation among 15 experts from 10 tertiary general hospitals. SPSS 16.0 software package was used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: The effective rates of two rounds of questionnaire were 100% and 93.3%, the authority coefficient was 0.83, and the P value of expert coordination coefficients W was less than 0.05. The final evidence-based protocol for tracheotomy care in adult patients consists of 5 sections, 16 dimensions and 61 items. CONCLUSIONS: The evidence-based tracheotomy care protocol was combined with Chinese clinical status and experts' opinion. The protocol was scientific and credible, which may play an important role in clinical practice.
