Elective Tracheostomy in COVID-19 Patients: A Retrospective Case Series

• Autor(a) principal: Dias-Vaz, Marta
• Data de Publicação: 2020
• Outros Autores: Tiago, Catarina, Morais, Ana, Ferreira, Milene, Carvalho, Filipa
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: https://doi.org/10.25751/rspa.20118
• topic: Artigo Original

The COVID-19 outbreak represents a global health threat due to the unprecedented number of patients admitted to intensive care units and the overwhelming need for mechanical ventilation. Performing a tracheostomy in COVID-19 patients represents a risk for patients and healthcare workers. We report a case series of 10 patients with COVID-19 who underwent elective open tracheostomies in a negative pressure operating room, carried out by an experienced multidisciplinary team. They were tracheostomized after a mean intubation period of 18.6 days (range, 13-23 days). Only one patient developed postoperative complications and no viral transmission to health care workers was documented. Hence, our experience supports the safety of tracheostomy in COVID-19 patients, provided that meticulous planning and strict safety recommendations are followed.