Use and safety of percutaneous tracheostomy in intensive care - Report of a postal survey of ICU practice

A brief questionnaire was sent to 231 clinical directors of intensive care units in England and Wales to investigate the use of percutaneous tracheost omy. There was a 76% response rate. Percutaneous tracheostomies were in use in 78.4% of units. The Ciaglia technique was the most commonly used, with 31.3% routinely using fibreoscopy as part of their technique. Only 12% of u nits routinely provided long-term follow up of their percutaneous tracheost omies. Overall, 78.4% thought that percutaneous tracheostomy was safe and 6 6.7% considered percutaneous tracheostomy to be the technique of choice for Intensive Care patients. Percutaneous tracheostomy is now a well-establish ed technique. However, the limited use of fibreoscopy and the lack of long- term follow-up are areas of concern.