Pediatric tracheostomy in Hospital Pablo Tobón Uribe (October 1999 to June 2003) I. C. V. Velásquez. M. I. H, Restrepo, G. H. Sánchez, G.T. Arredondo, N. G. Rondón

Acta Otorrinolaringol Cir Cabeza Cuello 2009: 37: 11–16 This article presented the characteristics of pediatric tracheostomies performed at the Pablo Tobón Uribe Hospital in Medellin, Columbia and compared the results with the published literature. A retrospective study was conducted basing on the records of 38 children, who had undergone tracheostomy between the 1st of October 1999 and 30th of June 2003 were analysed. The results showed 61% of the patients were male. 13% of the procedures were performed in children under 1 year old and 34% were performed on children between 1 and 5 years old. The main cause of admission to the hospital was alterations to the respiratory tract (29%). Congenital malformations were the most frequent associated pathology (42%). The main indication for tracheostomy was long intubation period (71%). There were no intraoperative complications or during the first 24 h. 14/38 (37%) of the patients exhibited some complications during the first week and the most frequent one was accidental decannulation. Other complications included obstruction of the tube (2), pneumothorax (1), pneumo-mediastinum (1), tracheitis (1) and granuloma (1). Although five patients were deceased, none of the deaths was related to the tracheostomy procedures. The authors concluded that pediatric tracheostomy is a safe procedure with low morbidity and mortality rate reported in this article is similar to literature.

MARIO GABRIELLI