Acta otorhinolaryngologica Italica : organo ufficiale della Società italiana di otorinolaringologia e chirurgia cervico-facciale
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Acta Otorhinolaryngol Ital · Aug 2011
Subglottic stenosis following percutaneous tracheostomy: a single centre report as a descriptive study.
Tracheal stenosis is a potential complication of tracheostomy. The present study aimed to describe the epidemiologic profile of subglottic stenosis in a referral medical centre. During a 4-year period, all patients who had been admitted in an Intensive Care Unit of Imam Khomeini Hospital (affiliated to Tehran University of Medical Sciences) and had undergone percutaneous tracheostomy during 7-10 days after endotracheal intubation were enrolled in the study. ⋯ Patients in whom the tracheostomy tube had been removed in the first 3 weeks after tracheostomy did not present tracheal stenosis (n = 3, 15%). The present study revealed that subglottic stenosis is frequent in patients who have undergone percutaneous tracheostomy in the Intensive Care unit setting. However, the stenosis is generally mild and is not associated with serious and/ or life-threatening clinical manifestations.