Early Percutaneous Tracheostomy in Coronavirus Disease 2019: Association With Hospital Mortality and Factors Associated With Removal of Tracheostomy Tube at ICU Discharge. A Cohort Study on 121 Patients.

OBJECTIVES: Early tracheotomy, defined as a procedure performed within 10 days from intubation, is associated with more ventilator free days, shorter ICU stay, and lower mortality than late tracheotomy. During the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, it was especially important to save operating room resources and to have a shorter ICU stay for patients, when ICUs had insufficient beds. In this context of limited resources, early percutaneous tracheostomy could be an effective way to manage mechanically ventilated patients. Nevertheless, current recommendations suggest delaying or avoiding the tracheotomy in coronavirus disease 2019 patients. Aim of the study was to analyze the hospital mortality of coronavirus disease 2019 patients who had received early percutaneous tracheostomy and factors associated with removal of tracheostomy cannula at ICU discharge. DESIGN: Cohort study. SETTING: Coronavirus disease 2019 ICU. PATIENTS: Adult patients with coronavirus disease 2019 3 days after ICU admission. INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Three days after ICU admission, 164 patients were present in ICU and included in the analysis. One-hundred and twenty-one patients (74%) were tracheostomized, whereas the other 43 (26%) were managed with translaryngeal intubation only. In multivariable analysis, early percutaneous tracheostomy was associated with lower hospital mortality. Sixty-six of tracheostomized patients (55%) were discharged alive from the hospital. Age and male sex were the only characteristics that were independently associated with mortality in the tracheostomized patients (45.5% and 62.8% in tracheostomized and nontracheostomized patients, respectively; p = 0.009). Tracheostomy tube was removed in 47 of the tracheostomized patients (71%). The only variable independently associated with weaning from tracheostomy at ICU discharge was a faster start of spontaneous breathing after tracheotomy was performed. CONCLUSIONS: Early percutaneous tracheostomy was safe and effective in coronavirus disease 2019 patients, giving a good chance of survival and of weaning from tracheostomy cannula at ICU discharge.

Standard Laryngeal Mask Airway and LMA-ProSeal during laparoscopic surgery.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To compare the frequency of airway seal and sore throat with the LMA-ProSeal (PLMA) and the standard Laryngeal Mask Airway (LMA) during laparoscopic surgery. DESIGN: Prospective, controlled, randomized, nonblinded clinical study. SETTING: University-affiliated hospital. PATIENTS: 60 adult, ASA physical status I, II, and III patients undergoing laparoscopic surgery with general anesthesia, without contraindication to the use of the laryngeal mask. INTERVENTIONS: Patients were randomized to receive mechanical ventilation [tidal volume (V(T)) 7 mL/kg(-1); positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) 10 cmH(2)O] through the PLMA or the standard LMA, both equipped with a gastric tube. MEASUREMENTS: Heart rate, arterial pressure, inspiratory and expiratory V(T), airway pressure, end-tidal CO(2) partial pressure, and pulse oximetry were recorded. The leak fraction was calculated as the difference between the inspiratory and expiratory V(T) divided by the inspiratory V(T). Postoperative sore throat frequency was scored in the recovery room ("early") and 1 week after surgery ("late"). MAIN RESULTS: All patients were successfully ventilated through the assigned laryngeal mask. The leak fraction was 7 +/- 3% with the LMA and 7 +/- 4% with the PLMA (p = 0.731). In one patient, the PLMA drainage tube was not patent despite a leak fraction of 5%, and there was no clinically detectable air leak. During the recovery room stay, the frequency of sore throat was scored as mild in 13% and 10% of patients with the standard LMA and the PLMA, respectively, and was absent in the remaining patients (p = 0.99, between groups). There were no differences in the frequency of sore throat between the "early" and "late" evaluations (p = 0.99). CONCLUSIONS: The PLMA and the LMA show similar airtight efficiency during laparoscopy. The patency of the PLMA drainage tube should always be confirmed. The sore throat evaluation performed in recovery room appears as reliable as later evaluations.