Effect of tracheostomy timing on outcomes in patients with traumatic brain injury

Tracheostomy following severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) is common, yet the outcomes associated with tracheostomy timing are unclear. The objective of this study was to assess hospital outcomes of tracheostomy timing in TBI patients. We retrospectively analyzed data from the National Inpatient Sample database of adult patients aged ≥18 years with a primary diagnosis of TBI. Indexed hospitalizations of TBI patients who underwent either percutaneous or surgical tracheostomy between 1995 and 2015 in the United States were included. The interventional groups were 1) early tracheostomy (≤7 days) vs standard tracheostomy (8-14 days), vs late tracheostomy (≥15 days), and 2) tracheostomy vs no tracheostomy. Propensity score matching and conditional logistic regression models were used to analyze in-hospital mortality, length of hospitalization, and in-hospital complications among TBI patients in relation to tracheostomy timing. The risk of in-hospital mortality was 35% lower in patients who underwent tracheostomy vs those who did not (odds ratio 0.65; P < 0.001). Patients who underwent early tracheostomy had a higher risk of in-hospital mortality compared to standard tracheostomy (odds ratio 1.69; P < 0.001) or late tracheostomy (odds ratio 1.80; P < 0.001). An early tracheostomy was associated with a shorter mean hospital length of stay (27 days) compared to standard (36 days) or late tracheostomy (48 days).