Effect of technique and timing of tracheostomy in patients with acute traumatic spinal cord injury undergoing mechanical ventilation.

Objective: To assess the effect of timing and techniques of tracheostomy on morbidity, mortality, and the burden of resources in patients with acute traumatic spinal cord injuries (SCls) undergoing mechanical ventilation.

Design: Review of a prospectively collected database.

Setting: Intensive and intermediate care units of a monographic hospital for the treatment of SCI.

Complications of tracheostomy after anterior cervical spine fixation surgery.

Purpose: Cervical traumatic spinal cord-injured patients often way require both anterior cervical spine stabilization and tracheostomy in the first few days after the injury. The infectious complication of tracheostomy can interfere with the evolution of the fixation surgery. The aim of our study was to evaluate the safety of tracheostomy performed early after anterior cervical spine stabilization.

Tracheostomy timing in traumatic spinal cord injury.

The study conducted is the retrospective study and the main objective is to evaluate the benefits and safety of early versus late tracheostomy in traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) patients requiring mechanical ventilation. Tracheostomy offers many advantages in critical patients who require prolonged mechanical ventilation. Despite the large amount of patients treated, there is still an open debate about advantages of early versus late tracheostomy.