Percutaneous tracheotomy in bone marrow transplant patients with severe thrombocytopenia.

Objective: Evaluation of percutaneous tracheotomy in bone marrow transplant patients with severe thrombocytopenia.

Design: A retrospective outcome study.

Patients: A retrospective study of 26 percutaneous tracheotomies was performed at the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit, Rambam Medical Center, Haifa, Israel. Age, sex, underlying disease, reason for intubation, complete blood count, coagulation profile, and the incidence of renal failure were collected. All patients received 6 units of platelets one hour prior to the procedure.

Results: The mean platelets count was 14,300 +/- 5500. Twenty-five of the 26 percutaneous tracheotomies were completed successfully, without any intraoperative complications. One patient suffered from moderate bleeding during the procedure, which was immediately stopped and converted to open tracheotomy. In the postoperative period 4 patients suffered from mild bleeding around the stoma, which was managed conservatively. No other late complications were encountered.

Conclusions: Percutaneous tracheotomy can be safely performed in patients with severe thrombocytopenia when the surgeon and anesthesiologist are experienced in the procedure, and platelets are given perioperatively.