One-Year Outcomes Following Tracheostomy for Acute Respiratory Failure*

Objectives: Tracheostomy utilization has dramatically increased recently. Large gaps exist between expected and actual outcomes resulting in significant decisional conflict and regret. We determined 1-year patient outcomes and healthcare utilization following tracheostomy to aid in decision-making and resource allocation. Design: Retrospective cohort study. Setting: All California hospital discharges from 2012 to 2013 with follow-up through 2014. Patients: Nonsurgical patients who received a tracheostomy for acute respiratory failure. Interventions: None. Measurements and Main Results: Our primary outcome was 30-day, 90-day, and 1-year mortality. We also determined hospitals readmissions rates and healthcare utilization in the first year following tracheostomy. We identified 8,343 tracheostomies during the study period. One-year mortality following tracheostomy was high, 46.5%. Older adults (≥ 65 yr) had significantly higher mortality compared with younger patients (
Source: Critical Care Medicine - Category: Emergency Medicine Tags: Clinical Investigations Source Type: research