Table 1.
Demographic data
| Characteristics | No tracheostomy N = 609 |
Tracheostomy N = 374 |
P value | Early tracheostomy N = 141 |
Late tracheostomy N = 233 |
P value | Overall N = 983 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age (yr), median [IQR] | 56 [35–69] | 47 [28–60] | < 0.001 | 46 [29–60] | 48 [28–60] | 0.81 | 52 [32–67] |
| Age categories (yr), n/total N (%) | |||||||
| < 55 | 289/609 (47.5%) | 239/374 (63.9%) | < 0.001 | 90/141 (63.8%) | 149/233 (63.9%) | 0.99 | 528/983 (53.7%) |
| 55–64 | 117/609 (19.2%) | 65/374 (17.4%) | 25/141 (17.7%) | 40/233 (17.2%) | 182/983 (18.5%) | ||
| 65–74 | 107/609 (17.6%) | 32/374 (8.6%) | 13/141 (9.2%) | 19/233 (8.1%) | 139/983 (14.1%) | ||
| 75–84 | 75/609 (12.3%) | 32/374 (8.6%) | 11/141 (7.8%) | 21/233 (9.0%) | 107/983 (10.9%) | ||
| ≥ 85 | 21/609 (3.4%) | 6/374 (1.6%) | 2/141 (1.4%) | 4/233 (1.7%) | 27/983 (2.7%) | ||
| Female sex, n/total N (%) | 155/609 (25.5%) | 81/374 (21.7%) | 0.18 | 32/141 (22.7%) | 49/233 (21.0%) | 0.71 | 236/983 (24.0%) |
| Comorbidities, n/total N (%) | |||||||
| Cirrhosis | 15/609 (2.5%) | 5/374 (1.3%) | 0.22 | 3/141 (2.1%) | 2/233 (0.9%) | 0.37* | 20/983 (2.0%) |
| Renal insufficiency | 10/609 (1.6%) | 4/374 (1.1%) | 0.46 | 2/141 (1.4%) | 2/233 (0.9%) | 0.63* | 14/983 (1.4%) |
| Diabetes | 103/609 (16.9%) | 45/374 (12.0%) | 0.04 | 14/141 (9.9%) | 31/233 (13.3%) | 0.33 | 148/983 (15.1%) |
| Cardiac | 74/609 (12.2%) | 26/374 (6.9%) | 0.01 | 9/141 (6.4%) | 17/233 (7.3%) | 0.74 | 100/983 (10.2%) |
| Pulmonary | 60/609 (9.9%) | 32/374 (8.6%) | 0.50 | 8/141 (5.7%) | 24/233 (10.3%) | 0.12 | 92/983 (9.4%) |
| Neurologic | 18/609 (2.9%) | 7/374 (1.9%) | 0.29 | 3/141 (2.1%) | 4/233 (1.7%) | 1.00* | 25/983 (2.5%) |
| HIV | 2/609 (0.3%) | 1/374 (0.3%) | 1.00* | 0/141 (0.0%) | 1/233 (0.4%) | 1.00* | 3/983 (0.3%) |
| Hypotension | 27/609 (4.5%) | 15/374 (4.1%) | 0.75 | 5/141 (3.6%) | 10/233 (4.4%) | 0.72 | 42/983 (4.3%) |
| Hypoxemia | 9/609 (1.5%) | 6/374 (1.7%) | 0.87 | 0/141 (0.0%) | 6/233 (2.6%) | 0.09 | 15/983 (1.6%) |
| TBI severity, n/total N (%) | |||||||
| GCS, median [IQR] | 6 [3–7] | 6 [3–8] | 0.90 | 6 [3–8] | 5 [3–7] | < 0.001 | 6 [3–8] |
| ≤ 8 | 498/609 (81.8%) | 309/374 (82.6%) | 0.74 | 109/141 (77.3%) | 200/233 (85.8%) | 0.03 | 807/983 (82.1%) |
| 9–12 | 111/609 (18.2%) | 65/374 (17.4%) | 32/141 (22.7%) | 33/233 (14.2%) | 176/983 (17.9%) | ||
| Mechanism of injury, n/total N (%) | |||||||
| MVC | 275/609 (45.2%) | 195/374 (52.1%) | < 0.001 | 66/141 (46.8%) | 129/233 (55.4%) | 0.17 | 470/983 (47.8%) |
| Fall from own height | 79/609 (13.0%) | 18/374 (4.8%) | 8/141 (5.7%) | 10/233 (4.3%) | 97/983 (9.9%) | ||
| Fall more than own height | 157/609 (25.8%) | 71/374 (19.0%) | 25/141 (17.7%) | 46/233 (19.7%) | 228/983 (23.2%) | ||
| Penetrating | 11/609 (1.8%) | 11/374 (2.9%) | 7/141 (5.0%) | 4/233 (1.7%) | 22/983 (2.2%) | ||
| Other blunt | 87/609 (14.3%) | 79/374 (21.1%) | 35/141 (24.8%) | 44/233 (18.9%) | 166/983 (16.9%) | ||
| Cranial injury AIS severity, n/total N (%) | |||||||
| ≤ 2 | 35/609 (5.8%) | 10/374 (2.7%) | 0.003 | 2/141 (1.4%) | 8/233 (3.4%) | 0.11 | 45/983 (4.6%) |
| 3 | 123/609 (20.2%) | 55/374 (14.7%) | 27/141 (19.2%) | 28/233 (12.0%) | 178/983 (18.1%) | ||
| 4 | 115/609 (18.9%) | 61/374 (16.3%) | 26/141 (18.4%) | 35/233 (15.0%) | 176/983 (17.9%) | ||
| ≥ 5 | 336/609 (55.2%) | 248/374 (66.3%) | 86/141 (61.0%) | 162/233 (69.5%) | 584/983 (59.4%) | ||
| Extracranial injury (AIS ≥ 3), n/total N (%) | |||||||
| Facial/neck | 44/609 (7.2%) | 48/374 (12.8%) | 0.003 | 31/141 (22.0%) | 17/233 (7.3%) | < 0.001 | 92/983 (9.4%) |
| Thoracic/abdominal | 234/609 (38.4%) | 182/374 (48.7%) | 0.002 | 65/141 (46.1%) | 117/233 (50.2%) | 0.44 | 416/983 (42.3%) |
| Spine | 50/609 (8.2%) | 48/374 (12.8%) | 0.02 | 18/141 (12.8%) | 30/233 (12.9%) | 0.98 | 98/983 (10.0%) |
| Upper/lower extremities | 88/609 (14.4%) | 63/374 (16.8%) | 0.31 | 22/141 (15.6%) | 41/233 (17.6%) | 0.62 | 151/983 (15.4%) |
| Others | 6/609 (1.0%) | 1/374 (0.3%) | 0.26* | 0/141 (0.0%) | 1/233 (0.4%) | 1.00* | 7/983 (0.7%) |
| Intracranial bleed, n/total N (%) | |||||||
| SAH | 408/609 (67.0%) | 277/374 (74.1%) | 0.02 | 104/141 (73.8%) | 173/233 (74.2%) | 0.92 | 685/983 (69.7%) |
| SDH | 413/609 (67.8%) | 270/374 (72.2%) | 0.15 | 102/141 (72.3%) | 168/233 (72.1%) | 0.96 | 683/983 (69.5%) |
| EDH | 73/609 (12.0%) | 50/374 (13.4%) | 0.52 | 20/141 (14.2%) | 30/233 (12.9%) | 0.72 | 123/983 (12.5%) |
| Cerebral edema | 197/609 (32.3%) | 140/374 (37.4%) | 0.10 | 50/141 (35.5%) | 90/233 (38.6%) | 0.54 | 337/983 (34.3%) |
| Diffuse cerebral injury | 167/609 (27.4%) | 158/374 (42.2%) | < 0.001 | 52/141 (36.9%) | 106/233 (45.5%) | 0.10 | 325/983 (33.1%) |
| Surgery, n/total N (%) | |||||||
| None | 85/609 (14.0%) | 18/374 (4.8%) | < 0.001 | 3/141 (2.1%) | 15/233 (6.4%) | 0.04 | 103/983 (10.5%) |
| Cranial | 347/609 (57.0%) | 220/374 (58.8%) | 78/141 (55.3%) | 142/233 (61.0%) | 567/983 (57.7%) | ||
| Extracranial | 177/609 (29.0%) | 136/374 (36.4%) | 60/141 (42.6%) | 76/233 (32.6%) | 313/983 (31.8%) | ||
*Fisher’ exact test
AIS = abbreviated injury scale; EDH = epidural hematoma; GCS = Glasgow Coma Scale; HIV = human immunodeficiency virus; IQR = interquartile range; MVC = motor vehicle collision; SAH = subarachnoid hemorrhage; SDH = subdural hematoma; TBI = traumatic brain injury