Laryngotracheal stenosis: a serious complication of percutaneous tracheostomy

Tracheostomy in patients requiring prolonged artificial ventilation in intensive care is increasingly being performed by a percutaneous dilatational technique, in preference to the standard surgical method. Since its introduction numerous series have reported favourably on its general safety in the short-term, but there have been few reports of longer term follow-up of patients. We present four cases of laryngotracheal stenosis, a previously unreported complication associated with the technique, and discuss the relevance of these to the future practice of percutaneous tracheostomy.     

Total versus tube-related additional work of breathing in ventilator-dependent patients

BACKGROUND: In tracheally intubated or tracheostomized spontaneously breathing patients, tube resistance can highly increase the patient's work of breathing. In this study we focused upon the relationship between total (WOBtot) and tube-related additional inspiratory work of breathing (WOBadd) and compared different ventilatory modalities for proper tube compensation. METHODS: In ten tracheostomized spontaneously breathing patients we measured WOBtot and WOBadd in the continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) mode, under inspiratory pressure support of 5, 10, and 15 cmH2O in the pressure support ventilation (PSV) mode, and under flow-adjusted pressure support in the automatic tube compensation (ATC) mode. WOBadd and WOBtot were calculated on the basis of measured tracheal pressure and esophageal pressure, respectively. Inspiratory peak tracheal pressure above PEEP was taken as an estimate of pressure support beyond mere tube compensation (i.e., overcompensation). RESULTS: The percentage of the tube-related WOBadd on WOBtot in the CPAP mode was 52%. It decreased with increasing pressure support in the PSV mode from 32% (PSV 5 cmH2O) to 17% (PSV 15 cmH2O). WOBadd was only 15% of WOBtot in the ATC mode. In contrast to the other ventilatory modes, reduction of WOBadd in the ATC mode was achieved with the smallest amount of overcompensation, i.e. with minimal pressure assist beyond mere tube compensation. CONCLUSION: In tracheally intubated or tracheostomized spontaneously breathing patients, adequate compensation of tube resistance (i.e. with minimal overcompensation and minimal undercompensation) is best done by the ATC mode.     

气管侧切扩大气管造瘘口预防喉全切除后颈部造瘘口狭窄(附33例报告)

目的：研究预防喉全切除术后气管造瘘口狭窄的方法。方法：33例患者喉全切除后采用改良的造瘘口方法，即将气管残端双侧纵行剪开，长约2cm，于气管造瘘口下方皮肤设计三角形皮瓣，嵌入缝合。结果：所有患者术后3个月均不再带管，亦无造瘘口狭窄，无呼吸困难，生活质量显著改善。结论：这种经改良的气管侧切式造瘘口方法可以很好地预防喉全切除术后气管造瘘口狭窄。     

The Financial Impact of a Hospital-Based Care Coordination Program for Children With Special Health Care Needs

Care coordination programs are important in caring for medically complex pediatric patients, particularly for children with special health care needs. This study is a retrospective financial analysis of a hospital-based care coordination program involving one procedural subgroup of children with special health care needs: those receiving pediatric tracheostomy. Hospital records were reviewed for patients who received a tracheostomy at a large Midwestern U.S. hospital from 1999 through 2015. The population was divided into two subgroups: patients who received a tracheostomy before the development of a care coordination program and patients who received a tracheostomy after enrollment in the care coordination program. Patient records were reviewed for length of stay, readmissions related to respiratory and tracheostomy management, and total hospital charges. Enrollment in a care coordination program for the pediatric tracheostomy patient resulted in a decrease in mean length of stay and reduced hospital charges and a slight increase in readmissions. Further analysis using larger sample sizes and multiple centers is necessary to determine whether such outcomes are the direct result of enrollment in a care coordination program.     

Oral health status of hospitalized amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients: a single-centre observational study

Objective: To assess the intraoral conditions and oral function of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

Material and methods: This single-centre, cross-sectional observational study included 50 ALS patients, who were treated with tracheostomy positive-pressure ventilation (TPPV) while hospitalized. The disease duration, TPPV duration, current number of teeth, number of occlusal units, number of decayed/missing/filled teeth, community periodontal index, bleeding on probing, dental calculus, maximum mouth opening, salivation rate, tongue anomalies (atrophy or hypertrophy) and tongue coating were determined for each patient. Differences in intraoral conditions according to disease duration or TPPV duration were statistically analysed.

Results: The maximum mouth opening was low in the included patients, with a mean distance of 13.7?±?7.4?mm. Furthermore, the maximum mouth opening showed a significant negative correlation with both disease duration and TPPV duration. No statistically significant differences were found between any other intraoral parameters and disease duration or TPPV duration.

Conclusions: Severe dental disease is uncommon among hospitalized ALS patients who receive oral care by nurses; however, mouth opening is very restricted in these patients. Early intervention for restricted mouth opening, directed by a dentist or dental hygienist, is essential in this population.     

A comparison of airway interventions and gastrostomy tube placement in infants with Robin sequence

The purpose of this study was to evaluate feeding impairment following non-operative or operative management of airway obstruction in a large series of infants with Robin sequence (RS) by rate of G-tube placement. A retrospective study was conducted at Boston Children’s Hospital including 225 patients (47.1% female) with RS treated between 1976 and 2018. Subjects were grouped by intervention required for successful management of airway obstruction: non-operative only (n = 120), tongue–lip adhesion (TLA, n = 75), mandibular distraction osteogenesis (MDO, n = 21), or tracheostomy (n = 9). The operative group had a higher rate of G-tube placement (58.1%) than the non-operative group (28.3%, P < 0.0001). Subjects in the TLA and tracheostomy groups had higher odds of G-tube placement than subjects in the MDO group: odds ratio (OR) 5.5 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.8–17.3, P = 0.004) and OR 27.0 (95% CI 3.2–293.4, P = 0.007), respectively. Syndromic patients and those with gastrointestinal anomalies also had higher odds of G-tube placement: OR 3.5 (95% CI 1.7–7.2, P = 0.001) and OR 5.9 (95% CI 1.6–21.0, P = 0.007), respectively. Infants with RS who require an airway operation and those with a syndromic diagnosis or gastrointestinal anomalies are more likely to require placement of a G-tube. Of the operative groups, MDO was associated with the lowest G-tube rate, compared to TLA and tracheostomy.     

TRACHY score: a simple and effective guide to management of the airway in head and neck cancer

Our aim was to provide a simple and effective scoring system to guide decision making in management of the airway. We retrospectively reviewed the casenotes of all patients diagnosed with head and neck cancer and who were treated by resection with primary flap reconstruction. Those factors that were significant (p< 0.05) were analysed by logistic regression to establish their weighting. A total of 149 patients were included, 67 of whom (45%) were managed with endotracheal tubes, and 82 with tracheostomy (55%), of which eight were unplanned and late. From this we produced a score based on: T (T staging), R (Reconstruction), A (Anatomy of tumour), C (Coexisting conditions), H (History of previous treatment for head and neck cancer), Y (lateralitY- bilateral neck dissection). A score of 4 gave a sensitivity of 91.4%, a positive predictive value of 90.9%, a specificity of 90.8% and a negative predictive value of 88.2%. We applied this score to the patients, and it gave a mean score of: 2.1 (intubated), 5.7 (primary tracheostomy), and 4.6 (late tracheostomy). This is the largest published study to our knowledge of tracheostomies in head and neck cancer flap reconstructions that presents a scoring system for management of the airway. This scoring system can appropriately predict those patients who do not need tracheostomy and can act as a reliable screening tool in preoperative planning of the airway. It could aid management, and reduce the incidence of postoperative tracheostomies, with the potential that patients could be managed more safely, with reduced morbidity and mortality.     

重度支气管肺发育不良的表型特征和治疗策略

支气管肺发育不良(BPD)是早产儿最常见、最严重的并发症之一。重度BPD(sBPD)指早产儿吸入氧气治疗至少28天,在矫正胎龄36周时需吸入氧浓度>30%或应用正压通气。sBPD可引起患儿后期死亡、心肺功能不全、生长不良、认知落后和运动发育迟缓等。随着我国极早产儿救治成活率的提高,sBPD的发病率逐渐上升。由于不同患儿病理生理机制不一,引起疾病的表型存在较大差异,给临床诊治带来相当大的挑战。近年国内外诊疗共识均提出,以多学科团队合作对sBPD患儿进行综合管理。本文主要介绍中-重度肺实质性病变、大气道疾病和肺动脉高压三种表型的发生机制、临床表现,以及呼吸支持策略、气管造口术和肺动脉高压的管理。新生儿科医师加强对sBPD的关键病理生理和表型特征的认识,建立多学科团队会诊机制,采取有针对性的治疗策略,有望进一步提高sBPD患儿的存活率,改善其预后。