30-Day Morbidity and Mortality Rates in Elderly Subjects Following Surgical Tracheostomy.

Background: Tracheostomy is considered to be effective in the respiratory support of mechanically ventilated patients. We studied a single-center experience of surgical tracheostomy in mechanically ventilated patients to describe the demographics, risk factors, and outcomes of early (≤ 14 d after ventilation) versus late surgical tracheostomy (≥ 15 d after ventilation).

Methods: In this retrospective study, we collected demographic data, medical history, timing of surgical tracheostomy in relation to ventilation day, blood test results, preoperative surgical assessment (subjective impression of neck length, difficulty in neck extension, presence of a goiter), intraoperative complications (bleeding > 100 mL, difficulties in cannula insertion), and postoperative morbidities (bleeding, wound infection, fever, inadvertent de-cannulation, and 30-d postoperative mortality rate) of subjects who underwent surgical tracheostomy in a secondary medical center during 2010-2015.