Revisiting the Great Ormond Street Hospital protocol for ward decannulation of children with tracheostomy

Tracheostomy decannulation is an important and final step in managing patients once the underlying issue requiring a tracheostomy resolves. However, no consensus exists on the optimal method to decannulate a paediatric patient. We revisit the Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) tracheostomy decannulation protocol, a 5-day process involving downsizing the tracheostomy tube, capping, and observation, to evaluate its effectiveness and assess if changes to the protocol are required.

This is a retrospective study, reviewing patient records between April 2018 and April 2023 from a single quaternary care centre. Data extracted include comorbidities, age at the time of decannulation, duration of tracheostomy, reason for tracheostomy insertion, whether a decannulation attempt was successful or not, and the timings of decannulation failure.

66 patients that met the selection criteria underwent a decannulation trial between April 2018 and April 2023. 32 patients were male, and 34 patients were female. Age at attempted decannulations ranged from 1 year to 18 years, with an average age of 6.1 years. There were a total of 93 attempts at decannulation, with 51 (54.8%) successful attempts, 35 (56.5%) first decannulation attempt successes, and 42 (45.2%) unsuccessful attempts. 17 patients had 2 attempts at decannulation, and 4 patients had 3 or more attempts at decannulation. Of the unsuccessful attempts, patients mostly failed on capping of the tracheostomy tube with 33 failures (35.5%).

The GOSH protocol achieved similar success rates to comparable protocols. The protocol's multi-step approach provides thorough evaluation and support for patients during the decannulation process, and its success on a complex patient cohort supports its continued use.