• G Frova and M Quintel.
• Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, Spedali Civili Brescia, Brescia, Italy.
• Intensive Care Med. 2002 Mar 1; 28 (3): 299-303.

ObjectiveTo describe and introduce a new technique for percutaneous dilational tracheostomy.Design And SettingOpen, observational clinical trial in patients requiring an elective tracheostomy in two intensive care units of university hospitals.PatientsFifty (25/25) consecutive patients requiring an elective tracheostomy above 18 years of age.InterventionsPerformance of a percutaneous dilational tracheostomy with a specially designed screw-type dilator, using a thread for the dilation procedure.ResultsIn 50 consecutive patients the new device allowed a quick and safe dilation procedure without any serious bleeding complications or other relevant procedural-related side effects.ConclusionsThe described new percutaneous dilational tracheostomy device (PercuTwist, Rüsch, Kernen, Germany) represents a single-step method with a high degree of control during dilation. So far, it appears to be a safe, quickly performed procedure with a strikingly low incidence of even small bleeding complications, thus offering an interesting new alternative for the performance of a percutaneous tracheostomy.

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