Clinical Study Retrospective Analysis of Pediatric Tracheostomy Mehmet Akdag, 1,2 Zeynep Baysal, 3 Ayfer Gozu Pirinccioglu, 4 Aylin Gul, 1 FazJl Emre Ozkurt, 1 and Ismail Topcu 1 1 Department of Otolaryngology, Faculty of Medicine, Dicle University, Diyarbakir, Turkey 2 Department of ENT & Head and Neck Surgery, Dicle University Medical College, 21280 Diyarbakir, Turkey 3 Department of Anesthesia, Faculty of Medicine, Dicle University, Diyarbakir, Turkey 4 Department of Pediatric Intensive Care, Faculty of Medicine, Dicle University, Diyarbakir, Turkey Correspondence should be addressed to Mehmet Akdag; drmehmetakdag@hotmail.com Received 25 February 2014; Revised 22 May 2014; Accepted 5 June 2014; Published 26 June 2014 Academic Editor: Tino Just Copyright © 2014 Mehmet Akdag et al. his is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Purpose. his paper reviews analyses for tracheostomy within our patient population over the last 6 years. Methods. We conducted a retrospective chart review of consecutive patients undergoing tracheostomy at the tertiary Dicle University Medical hospital, Turkey, from January 2006 to December 2012. Patient age, sex, emergency, planned tracheostomy, indications, complications, and decannulation time were all assessed. Results. Fity-six (34 male, 22 female) adult Pediatric patients undergoing tracheostomy between 2006 and 2013 were investigated. he most common indication for tracheostomy was upper airway obstruction (66.7%), followed by prolonged intubation (33.3%). Mean decannulation times ater tracheostomy ranged between 1 and 131 days, the diference being statistically signiicant ( = 0.040). here was no signiicant diference in terms of mean age (9.8 ± 6.0;  = 0.26). here was also no statistical diference between emergency and planned tracheotomies ( = 0.606). Conclusion. In our patient population, there was a signiicant decline in the number of tracheotomies performed for prolonged intubation and an increasing number of patient tracheostomy for upper airway obstruction. According to the literature, permanent decannulation rates were slightly higher with an increase in genetic diseases such as neuromuscular disease. 1. Introduction Tracheotomy is one of the most frequent planned thera- peutic or emergency surgical procedures in critically ill patients. Pediatric tracheotomy was irst performed in 1620 [1]. Approximately 200 tracheotomies were performed by Trousseau due to diphtheria with airway obstruction in 1833 [2]. Upper airway obstruction, prolonged ventilator depen- dence, and hypotonia secondary to neurological impairment are some of the most common indications for tracheotomy in pediatric patients. Tracheotomy is performed by making a cut in the trachea. he small diameter of the infant larynx and trachea means that minor changes due to mucosal edema can quickly lead to severe and even life threatening narrowing of the airway. he infant larynx is hidden by the hyoid bone, since it occupies a higher position in the neck than in adults. he thyroid cartilage has a broad leading edge. Cricoid cartilage is oten prominent, and palpation to establish the level of the airway can sometimes be diicult. hese anatomical characteristics that difer from those in adults may also make management more problem- atic. Although indications concerning timing and complica- tions of tracheotomy in adults have been well described and established, these are still controversial in the pediatric population. Most of these indications and complications, and also decannulation, may exhibit diferent regional approaches and demographic features. he purpose of this study was to present our clinical experience with the indications, complications, demographic characteristics, decannulation, and other factors involved in tracheotomy in children and to discuss this experience in the light of the relevant literature. Hindawi Publishing Corporation Advances in Otolaryngology Volume 2014, Article ID 848262, 4 pages http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/848262