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.