Parental Conflict, Regret, and Short-term Impact on Quality of Life in Tracheostomy Decision-Making.

Objectives: The prevalence of tracheostomy-dependence in critically ill children is increasing in the United States. We do not know the impact of this decision on parental outcomes. We aimed to determine the prevalence of decisional conflict and regret and explore the impact on quality of life among parents considering tracheostomy placement for their child.

Discussing Benefits and Risks of Tracheostomy: What Physicians Actually Say.

Objectives: When contemplating tracheostomy placement in a pediatric patient, a family-physician conference is often the setting for the disclosure of risks and benefits of the procedure. Our objective was to compare benefits and risks of tracheostomy presented during family-physician conferences to an expert panel's recommendations for what should be presented.

Design: We conducted a retrospective review of 19 transcripts of audio-recorded family-physician conferences regarding tracheostomy placement in children.