COVID-19 Patients from Hospitalization to Tracheostomy, the Experience of a High-Volume Center

Abstract

Background: Making decisions and planning about tracheostomy is not clear yet. Objectives: This study aimed to report intensive care unit (ICU) admission, intubation, and tracheostomy rates among patients in different settings and compare the outcomes of surgical and Percutaneous dilational tracheostomy (PDT) techniques between COVID-19 and non-COVID patients. Methods: Patients admitted to Masih Daneshvary hospital were assessed from February 2020 to May 2021 for intubation and tracheostomy rates. Different aspects and outcomes of two methods of tracheostomy, including surgical and PDT tracheostomy, were compared. Among non-COVID patients, 15 ICU admitted patients with different etiologies of pneumonia who required mechanical ventilation and tracheostomy were randomly selected and compared to COVID-19 patients. Results: A total of 7,748 COVID-19 patients were admitted, with 12.7% admitted to ICU with an intubation rate of 5.13%. Tracheostomy was performed for a total of 36 patients (0.46%) for prolonged intubation with a trend of 0.1% to 1.45% in 16 months. Regarding the technique of tracheostomy, 24% and 33.3% of patients survived in surgical and PDT groups, respectively (P=0.44). Surgical tracheostomy and PDT were performed in 26.5% and 40% of non-COVID patients, respectively (P=0.5). The mortality rate was 72.2% and 20% in the surgical tracheostomy and PDT groups, respectively (P=0.003). Conclusion: Given the study results, both surgical and percutaneous techniques are feasible for COVID-19 patients, and the decision about the optimal timing of intubation needs more inquiry.