[Percutaneous dilatation tracheostomy at an intensive care unit]

Fourty-five cases of percutaneous dilatational tracheostomy (PDT) performed in the intensive care unit, Kolding Hospital, are reported in a retrospective study. All patients (mean age 60.8 years) had been on a ventilator due to critical diseases and had been subjected to translaryngeal intubation for an average of 6.1 days (range 1-12). PDT was uncomplicated in 41 cases (91%). Early bleeding, which required minor intervention, was described in three cases (7%). There was one case (2%) of minor bleeding seven days after PDT during haemodialysis. There had been no procedure-related death, and no life-threatening complications such as pneumothorax, paratracheal tube position or bleeding requiring transfusion were seen. Nineteen patients (42%) died due to progression of their underlying diseases with the tracheostomy functioning well, the mean cannulation time being 23.3 days. Twenty-six patients (58%) lived to decannulation with a mean length of cannulation of 13.7 days. The PDT procedure has the advantage of being bedside, thus avoiding transportation of a critically ill patient to the operating theatre.