[A comparative study between early and late tracheostomy in patients ongoing mechanical ventilation]

To assess the incidence of tracheostomy in patients submitted to mechanic ventilation (MV); to compare the length of stay (LOS), duration of MV, APACHE II and mortality among patients submitted to tracheostomy, according to the moment of its application (early or late).

A retrospective observation study type cohort was done from April thru October 2005 including 190 patients at the adult intensive care unit (ICU) of Hospital Estadual do Grajaú.

Among the 190 patients, 32 (16.84%) were submitted to tracheostomy with a longer LOS (30.16 days) as compared to those that were not (p < 0.001). The mean time of the tracheostomy procedure was 13.5 days from the starting of the MV. It is known that there still is no guidance for defining an ideal period for the operation. On this study, the prevalence of early tracheostomy (<13 days) was 46.87% (n = 15) and the late tracheostomy (> 13 days) was 53.13% (n = 17). In a meaningful way, the patients with early tracheostomy obtained APACHE II superior to those with late tracheostomy (18.2 versus 13.47), however there was no difference regarding the mortality rate. There was no difference regarding the time of ICU LOS (28.9 versus 31.28 days) and the MV time (29.73 versus 32.23 days) for both groups.

The incidence of tracheostomy was high, being associated to a smaller ICU mortality but with a longer LOS and more complications. There was no significant difference regarding the destination of the patients when submitted to early or late tracheostomy.