There are a number of potentially scary complications from tracheostomies, particularly early on in the post-procedure period. Although accidental decannulation and loss of airway is probably the most common, Brandon Oto describes the management of a much scarier complication in the latest in our TIRBO series on the Critical Care Scenarios podcast.
I’ve never experienced one of these (thank goodness), but I have had to rush to the OR with a bleeding ENT patient and they’re some of the scariest scenarios that we encounter in the ICU. I think Brandon is right on when he says that just because the incidence of these types of things is low and the mortality is high doesn’t mean that we should be fatalistic and use that as an excuse not to be prepared for these.
critical care notes 