Developing a percutaneous dilatational tracheostomy service by medical intensivists: experience at one academic institution

Abstract

Purpose: Percutaneous dilatational tracheostomy (PDT) is increasingly becoming the preferred method, compared with open surgical tracheostomy, for patients requiring chronic ventilatory assistance. Little is known regarding the process involved to incorporate PDT as a standard service in the medical intensive care unit. In this report, we describe our experience developing a "PDT service" led by medical intensivists.

Materials and methods: With support from our leadership and surgical colleagues, we developed a credentialing and training process for medical intensivists, formulated a bedside team to perform PDT, refined our technique, and maintained a patient data registry for quality improvement.

Results: To date, our service includes 4 medical intensivists with PDT privileges. Over a 4-year period, we performed 171 PDTs for patients in the medical intensive care unit after 12.1 ± 8.2 days of mechanical ventilation. Our procedure-related complication rates are similar to other reports. No patient required emergent open surgical tracheostomy, and there were no deaths related to PDT. We required minimal to no backup support from our surgical colleagues in performing PDT.

Conclusions: We successfully developed a medical intensivist-driven PDT service, sharing our unique successes and challenges, to facilitate the care of our patients requiring prolonged ventilator support.

Keywords: Dilatational; Medical intensivists; Percutaneous; Tracheostomy.