OLGA DEVRİM AYVAZ, AYŞENUR CELAYİR, MUHAMMED HAMİDULLAH ÇAKMAK
Southern Clinics of Istanbul Eurasia - 2023;34(1):91-96
INTRODUCTION: The most important indication for tracheotomy in children is long-term intubation due to cardiopulmonary and neurological diseases. Pediatric tracheostomy is associated with varying complication (1058%) and mortality (03.6%) rates. Herein, we aimed to pres-ent the results of our 12 years of pediatric tracheostomy experience. METHODS: This was a retrospective study of medical records of pediatric patients who underwent tracheostomy in our pediatric surgery department from 2009 to 2021. Results: During 12 years, 37 tracheostomies were performed in 17 (45.9%) males and 20 (54.1%) female children, and the median age was 5 months (min: 2 months14 years). Emergency tracheostomy was performed in 8 (21.6%), while planned tracheostomy in 29 (78.4%). During the operation and early postoperative days, any medical problem was detected in 34 (91.9%) patients, while 2 (5.4%) neonates with tracheal atresia were lost in the first and second postoperative days. One patient was desaturated (2.7%) due to decannulation during the tracheostomy dressing; however, tracheostomy cannula was safely inserted again after intratracheal intubation. Two cannulas were removed; granulation tissue was formed in 1 case, and occlusion of the cannula was observed in 2 cases (one on the post-operative 2nd day, and the second one on the post-operative 10th day) as complications of tracheostomy. Twenty-three patients (62.2%) survived, and 14 (37.8%) patients died. Among the surviving patients, two tracheostomies were closed in a boy (with congenital diaphragmatic hernia), and in a girl (with esophageal atresia, distal tracheoesophageal fistula, severe tracheomalacia, and Fallot tetralogy), 3 years postoperatively. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Pediatric tracheotomy can be successfully performed with minimal complication rates through appropriate surgical technique and adequate postoperative care.
