Frequency of Various Complications of Tracheostomy in Patients

Objective: To determine the frequency of various complication rate of tracheostomy and outlining the common indications and outcome of patients with tracheostomy in a tertiary care hospital of Karachi. Study Design: Descriptive longitudinal study. Place and Duration of Study: Department of Otorhinolaryngology (ENT) / Head and Neck Surgery, Dow International Medical College, Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi, from January 2024 to June 2024. Materials and Methods: This study included A total of 97 patients of both genders underwent for either elective or emergency tracheostomy had age 18 – 65 years. All tracheostomies were performed by senior Otolaryngologist in the operation theater using open surgical technique under local or general anesthesia, transverse skin incision was given in elective cases and vertical skin incision in emergency cases. All patients were followed for 7 days to assess the complications. The data was analyzed with the help of SPSS version 26. Mean and standard deviation was calculated for quantitative variables and frequency and percentages were calculated for qualitative variables. Results: The different complications observed and were divided into immediate (occurring within 24 hours), early (within 7 days) and late (after 7 days). The immediate complications were tube obstruction 9 (9.3%), stomal and wound infection in 4 (4.1%) cases and emphysema 19 (19.6%) cases, early complications were bleeding 59 (60.8%) and apnea 10 (10.3%) and late complications were tracheal stenosis 1 (1.03%) and difficult decannulation 8 (8.2%). Conclusion: In the current study, emergency tracheostomies had a higher overall rate of complications. The most frequent consequence seen was bleeding.