• Crit Care · Sep 2018

    Comparison of outcomes between vertical and transverse skin incisions in percutaneous tracheostomy for critically ill patients: a retrospective cohort study.

    • Sung Yoon Lim, Won Gun Kwack, Youlim Kim, Yeon Joo Lee, Jong Sun Park, Ho Il Yoon, Jae Ho Lee, Choon-Taek Lee, and Young-Jae Cho.
    • Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, 82, Gumi-ro 173 Beon-gil, Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, 13620, Republic of Korea.
    • Crit Care. 2018 Sep 30; 22 (1): 246.

    BackgroundPercutaneous tracheostomy (PT) is a common procedure in critical care medicine. No definite clinical practice guidelines recommended on the choice of the direction of skin incision, vertical or transverse for tracheostomy in critically ill patients. The objective of this retrospective study was to compare the outcomes associated with vertical and transverse skin incisions in patients undergoing PT.MethodsPatients who underwent PT between March 2011 and December 2015 in the intensive care unit (ICU) of a tertiary hospital were retrospectively included. PTs were performed by pulmonary intensivists at the ICU bedside using the single tapered dilator technique assisted by flexible bronchoscopy. The primary outcome was the incidence of tracheostomy site ulcers at 7 days after PT.ResultsOf the 458 patients who underwent PT, a vertical incision was made in 27.1% and a transverse incision was made in 72.9%. There were no tracheostomy-related mortalities, and no significant difference in the incidence of immediate postoperative complications, including bleeding, tracheal ring fracture, and subcutaneous emphysema. Thirty-five patients (7.6%) developed complications within 7 days after PT, in which tracheostomy-related pressure ulcers were the most frequent. Compared with vertical incisions, transverse incisions were associated with significantly lower incidence of complications (14.1% vs. 5.4%, P = 0.001).ConclusionsThis retrospective study showed that transverse skin incisions in PTs for critically ill patients, resulted in a significant decrease in overall complications, particularly ulcers in the tracheostomy site.

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