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Published on: January 17, 2011
Pediatric tracheostomy tube change
Yorschua Jalil C1, Gregory Villarroel S1, Patricio Barañao G1
1Hospital Josefina Martínez, Santiago, Chile.
Insights
Routine tracheostomy tube changes in children are safe, even when performed by trained family members. This key procedure for prolonged artificial airway use has low complication rates, primarily involving minor bleeding or initial difficulty.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Medicine
- Respiratory Care
- Surgical Procedures
Background:
- Tracheostomy tube changes are crucial for children with prolonged artificial airways.
- Specific aspects of this procedure in pediatric patients require further clarification.
Purpose of the Study:
- To characterize tracheostomy tube changes in children within a long-stay health institution.
- To identify key factors influencing the procedure and its outcomes.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective observational study of 630 tracheostomy tube changes in hospitalized children over two years.
- Analysis of variables including reason for change, tube details, operator, complications, and education.
Main Results:
- Relatives most frequently performed changes (33.7%), with routine changes being the primary reason (83.3%).
- Complications occurred in 10.7% of changes, mainly peristomal bleeding and first-attempt failures.
- No significant association found between balloon use, mechanical ventilation, or operator type and complications.
Conclusions:
- Routine tracheostomy tube changes in children are a safe procedure.
- The procedure can be safely performed by healthcare professionals and trained family members.
Introduction:
Changing the tracheostomy tube in children is a key procedure, however, some of its aspects re main unclear.
Objective:
To characterize the tracheostomy tube change in children from a long-stay health institution.
Patients And Method:
Retrospective observational analytical study based on the 2-year clinical record of hospitalized children who underwent tracheostomy. The variables evaluated were the reason for tracheostomy tube change, size and brand of the tube, operator and participants (assistants/spectators) of the procedure, complications, and education.
Results:
We analyzed 630 tracheostomy tube changes. The most frequent operators were relatives (33.7%). The main reason for the change was routine (83.3%). 10.7% of the changes presented some complications, where the most frequent was peristomal bleeding (47.37%) and the first failed attempt (34.21%). There was no association between the presence of balloon and complications (p = 0.24), nor with the use of Mechanical Ventilation (p = 0.8) or the operator (p = 0.74).
Conclusion:
The routine change of the tracheostomy tube in children with prolonged artificial airway use is a safe procedure, which can be performed by both health professionals and properly trained family members.
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