Tracheotomy and the intensive care unit patient.

Transportation of the intensive care unit (ICU) patient to the operating room for tracheotomy has been implicated as an unnecessary source of complications and has been cited as a relative indication for percutaneous tracheotomy. However, there is very little evidence in the literature to support this claim. We evaluated 100 consecutive patients who were transported from the ICU to the operating room for tracheotomy. There were no complications related to patient transportation. A total of five complications occurred, all unrelated to patient transportation. Two patients receiving pressure control ventilation developed a pneumothorax on postoperative days 7 and 8, respectively. There were three minor complications directly related to the tracheotomy: peristomal cellulitis, tracheitis, and hemorrhage of less than 25 cc on postoperative day 1. The minor complications were treated appropriately and resolved without any adverse sequelae. We provide a detailed review of 100 consecutive ICU patient tracheotomy cases and compare this with 109 tracheotomies in non-ICU patients. Transportation of the ICU patient does not appear to increase the risk of complications during tracheotomy and should not be cited as a cause of complications in the percutaneous tracheotomy literature. The results with standard surgical tracheotomy in the controlled setting of the operating room should serve as the standard by which other procedures are judged.