A Novel Dressing Method to Achieve Early Natural Tracheostoma Closure

Tracheotomy is a routine surgical procedure in oral and maxillofacial surgery. After decannulation, spontaneous tracheostoma closure is usually expected. However, wound healing is often delayed, requiring 1 to 2 weeks for healing and resulting in the need for surgical closure. Although many reports have described the surgical closure of a tracheostoma, few reports have focused on the dressing methods for closure of tracheal openings after decannulation. Herein, the authors report a new tracheostoma closure method that does not rely on surgical closure or the adhesive strength of the tape. The authors' conventional dressing method was to place gauze over the tracheostoma after decannulation and apply pressure through elastic tape or with a film dressing to seal the tracheostoma and achieve natural closure by reducing the leakage of air and tracheal secretions. However, the conventional method cannot completely prevent the leakage of air and tracheal secretions. We developed a novel method to achieve early closure by markedly reducing the leakage by partially inserting the gauze into the tracheostoma.