Risk of death at home or on hospital readmission after discharge with pediatric tracheostomy.

Objective: To evaluate outcomes of patients discharged home following tracheostomy, including the timing and place of death for non-survivors.

Study Design: We retrospectively reviewed medical records of infants undergoing tracheostomy between 2006 and 2017, within the first year of life for congenital or acquired neonatal conditions.

Results: Of the 224 patients discharged after tracheostomy, 127 (57%) required home mechanical ventilation (MV). Overall, 40 (18%) patients died (65% were on MV); 38% of the deaths occurred at home and 63% at a subsequent hospitalization. Having tube feeding was identified as significantly associated with increased mortality on multivariate analysis. Having a tracheostomy for upper airway obstruction was the only variable significantly associated with increased risk of death at home on multivariate analysis.

Conclusions: Having tube feeding was associated with increased risk of death overall and having the tracheostomy for obstructive airway conditions was associated with death occurring at home.