Otolaryngology--head and neck surgery : official journal of American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery
-
Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg · Jun 2012
All-cause mortality after tracheostomy at a tertiary care hospital over a 10-month period.
To evaluate perioperative mortality after tracheostomy in intensive care unit (ICU) patients undergoing routine tracheostomy over a 10-month period. ⋯ High rates of mortality after tracheostomy can possibly affect hospital quality ratings for surgical services. There were no deaths directly related to surgery. Despite this, the mortality rate in this population was quite high. This illustrates the significant disease burden in these patients and the need to stratify postoperative mortality as well as to consider comorbidity and age when evaluating patients for tracheostomy.