Abstract

Objectives: Tracheotomy in its earlier days was most Commonly performed for acute airway infection in children. Its indications are now changing; it is now most commonly performed for congenital malformations and prolonged intubation. There is still no consensus about the indications and results of tracheostomy in children. The aim of this study was to determine our experience and review the literature.

Material and Methods: In this study, we evaluated 20 patients in our department who would be unable to perform breathing prolonged intubation for tracheostomy between October 2010 and January 2013 retrospectively. Ages, genders, duration of  intubation , indications, complications and current situation of the patient’s was enrolled.

Results: Tracheostomy procedure was performed on 20 selected patients. All patients were followed for a median of 100 days (0-585 days). Nine of the patients died as a result of primary pathologies. All patients died after the first 30 days (42.9%). None of the patients gained their oral breathing ability back and therefore tracheostomy set was not removed. Complications: One of the patients had suprastemal granulotion tissue which needed steroid therapy and one had accidental decannulation. Our overall minor complication rate was 10%, and no major complication.

Conclusion: Tracheostomy in pediatric cases in whom entubation time gets longer is a safe alternative approach and can be applied safely and without spending extra time in cases with expected long intubation time. Tracheostomy is a procedure requiring no general anesthesia, which can be easily performed at the bedside, and has low morbidity and mortality rates.

Key Words: Pediatric Tracheostomy; Indications; Complications.