Objective: To describe our experience of performing open tracheostomy for coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) patients using available equipment and supplies at our institution.
Materials and methods: The present study is a narrative review and sharing of experiences of healthcare workers in performing tracheostomies in COVID-19 patients. Twenty-one surgical tracheostomies performed on COVID-19 patients over a period of 9 months (April–December 2020) were considered for the study at a tertiary care teaching hospital and the largest dedicated center to treat COVID-19 patients.
Results: There were 14 males and 7 females with severe SARS-CoV2 infection requiring long-term intubation from April to December 2020. The mean age was 49 years. Open surgical tracheostomy was performed in all the patients. The specific indications, contraindications, timing, preoperative protocols, surgical steps, and precautions taken have been discussed. Intubation time range was 5–14 days. Our experience on tracheostomy during the COVID-19 pandemic are presented in this study.
Conclusion: Tracheostomy is an aerosol-generating procedure which is a trade-off between healthcare worker's safety and patient care along with proper use of available resources and so there is a need for sharing of experience from various centers.
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Since January 2020 Elsevier has created a COVID-19 resource centre with free information in English and Mandarin on the novel coronavirus COVID-19. The COVID-19 resource centre is hosted on Elsevier Connect, the company 's public news and information. Brain Behav Immun 2020;(January).
