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. 2020 Jul;277(7):2133-2135.
doi: 10.1007/s00405-020-05982-0. Epub 2020 Apr 22.

Tracheostomy in the COVID-19 pandemic

Francesco Mattioli  1 , Matteo Fermi  2 , Michael Ghirelli  2 , Gabriele Molteni  3 , Nicola Sgarbi  4 , Elisabetta Bertellini  4 , Massimo Girardis  4 , Livio Presutti  2 , Andrea Marudi  4
Affiliations

Tracheostomy in the COVID-19 pandemic

Francesco Mattioli et al. Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol. 2020 Jul.

Abstract

Purpose: The role of tracheostomy in COVID-19-related ARDS is unknown. Nowadays, there is no clear indication regarding the timing of tracheostomy in these patients.

Methods: We describe our synergic experience between ENT and ICU Departments at University Hospital of Modena underlining some controversial aspects that would be worth discussing tracheostomies in these patients. During the last 2 weeks, we performed 28 tracheostomies on patients with ARDS due to COVID-19 infection who were treated with IMV.

Results: No differences between percutaneous and surgical tracheostomy in terms of timing and no case of team virus infection.

Conclusion: In our experience, tracheostomy should be performed only in selected patients within 7- and 14-day orotracheal intubation.

Keywords: COVID-19; Invasive mechanic ventilation; Tracheostomy.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Comment in

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