Starplasty contributes to reduce tracheostomal granulation in pediatric tracheostomy

Starplasty tracheostomy for pediatric patients has been suggested to reduce complications, including accidental decannulation and granulation.

This study, based in a single hospital, aims to evaluate whether starplasty tracheostomy decreases the incidence of postoperative granulation of tracheostoma.

A retrospective review was performed of patients that underwent tracheostomy under the age of 10 years in a single center between January 2001 and August 2020.

Of the 46 patients reviewed, 18 were males and 28 were females, and the median age at the initial operation was 6 months. Methods of tracheostomy were starplasty in 16 patients, vertical in 15 patients, horizontal H-shaped in 10 patients, fenestration in 3 patients, and trap door/inverted U-shaped in two patients. During observation, tracheostoma granulation was found in 25 patients and bleeding from tracheostoma occurred in one patient. No other major complications were observed. The incidence of postoperative tracheostoma granulation was significantly lower in patients that underwent starplasty tracheostomy compared with patients that underwent other types of tracheostomy (p = .007). There was no difference in survival outcomes or ratio of decannulations.

Starplasty tracheostomy was shown to decrease the incidence of tracheostoma granulation compared with other types of tracheostomy.