Conventional Tracheostomy Versus Percutaneous Tracheostomy: A Retrospective Study

Objectives Emergency Tracheostomy is a life saving surgical procedure. With the advent of newer instruments and equipments in the critical care units, there is marked improvement in the quality of care of the critically ill patients and such patients are able to survive for a longer period. Elective tracheostomy is being done in those patients who needs positive pressure ventilation, for a longer duration. Objectives of our study are to compare conventional tracheostomy (CT) to percutaneous tracheostomy (PcT) and to identify the strategy with the lowest frequency of potentially life threatening events. Study Design Retrospective comparative study. Patients Included 30 patients who met inclusion criteria. Study Settings Tertiary care centre (medical college). Results 15 patients underwent CT and 15 underwent PcT. Blood loss, mean operation time and complications were compared. Blood loss and operation time was lesser in CT compared to PcT. There were no reported complications in both the techniques. Conclusion In our study CT took lesser time with lesser blood loss and without any complications. But statistically, this difference was not significant. Thus person with refined skill in the technique is of utmost importance in deciding the choice of a technique.