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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2011 Sep 1.
Published in final edited form as: Arch Dis Child. 2010 Jun 3;95(9):703–710. doi: 10.1136/adc.2009.180836

Table 2.

Diagnoses of infants and children undergoing tracheotomy, Kids’ Inpatient Database 1997, 2000, 2003 and 2006*

Characteristic Year
1997 2000 2003 2006 p Value
Total number of tracheotomy operations 4322 4511 4502 4751 0.7
Neuromuscular impairment 1593 (36.9%) 1795 (39.8%) 1876 (41.7%) 2204 (46.4%) <0.01
 Epilepsy 644 (14.9%) 782 (17.3%) 822 (18.3%) 953 (20.1%)
 Cerebral palsy 629 (14.5%) 523 (11.6%) 583 (13.0%) 638 (13.4%)
 Brain or spinal cord malformation 282 (6.5%) 319 (7.1%) 312 (6.9%) 349 (7.4%)
 Hydrocephalus 234 (5.4%) 236 (5.2%) 275 (6.1%) 308 (6.5%)
 Central nervous system infection 116 (2.7%) 97 (2.1%) 99 (2.2%) 169 (3.5%)
 Muscular dystrophy or myopathy 104 (2.4%) 112 (2.5%) 122 (2.7%) 104 (2.2%)
Chronic lung disease 1378 (31.9%) 1635 (36.2%) 1988 (44.2%) 2108 (44.3%) <0.01
 Arising in the neonatal period 543 (12.7%) 723 (16.0%) 1045 (23.2%) 1121 (23.6%)
 Chronic respiratory failure 678 (15.7%) 708 (15.7%) 753 (16.7%) 722 (15.1%)
 Respiratory congenital anomalies 99 (2.3%) 142 (3.2%) 132 (2.9%) 148 (3.1%)
 Cystic fibrosis, other pulmonary fibrosis 47 (1.2%) 42 (1.0%) 35 (0.8%) 92 (2.0%)
 Diaphragm paralysis 11 (0.3%) 14 (0.3%) 27 (0.6%) 25 (0.5%)
Trauma 1264 (29.2%) 1296 (28.7%) 1138 (25.3%) 1194 (25.1%) <0.01
 Skull fracture or intracranial injury 876 (20.2%) 895 (19.9%) 804 (17.9%) 816 (17.1%)
 Cervical injury 215 (5.0%) 243 (5.4%) 286 (6.4%) 362 (7.6%)
 Other head and neck injury 173 (4.0%) 158 (3.5%) 48 (1.1%) 16 (<0.1%)
Upper airway anomaly 1171 (27.1%) 1280 (28.3%) 1237 (27.4%) 1308 (27.6%) >0.1
 Atresia, agenesis or other anomaly of the larynx or trachea 490 (11.3%) 539 (11.9%) 572 (12.7%) 580 (12.2%)
 Laryngeal stenosis 357 (8.2%) 372 (8.2%) 364 (8.1%) 332 (7.0%)
 Vocal cord paralysis or dysfunction 220 (5.1%) 216 (4.8%) 194 (4.3%) 290 (6.1%)
 Choanal atresia 66 (1.5%) 59 (1.3%) 35 (0.8%) 52 (1.1%)
 Cervical haemangioma, lymphangioma 57 (1.3%) 100 (2.2%) 68 (1.5%) 54 (1.1%)
Congenital heart disease 441 (10.2%) 600 (13.2%) 717 (15.9%) 883 (18.6%) <0.01
 Atrial or ventricular septal defect 185 (4.3%) 250 (5.5%) 204 (4.5%) 241 (5.1%)
 Patent ductus arteriosus 131 (3.0%) 188 (4.2%) 194 (4.3%) 294 (6.2%)
 Single ventricle, tetralogy of Fallot, transposition of great arteries, truncus arteriosus 100 (2.3%) 101 (2.2%) 139 (3.1%) 143 (3.0%)
 Aorta, pulmonary artery or pulmonary vein anomaly 63 (1.5%) 65 (1.5%) 68 (1.6%) 88 (2.0%)
 Aortic, pulmonary, mitral or trileptal valve anomaly 40 (0.9%) 87 (1.9%) 122 (2.7%) 160 (3.4%)
Upper airway infection 393 (9.0%) 317 (7.0%) 346 (7.7%) 411 (8.6%) >0.1
 Tracheitis 243 (5.6%) 229 (5.1%) 251 (5.6%) 333 (7.0%)
 Laryngeal, tonsil or other upper respiratory infection 122 (2.8%) 68 (1.5%) 54 (1.2%) 48 (1.0%)
 Epiglottitis or laryngotracheitis 28 (0.7%) 19 (0.4%) 36 (0.8%) 28 (0.6%)
Prematurity (<36 weeks’ gestation) 311 (7.2%) 494 (10.9%) 521 (11.6%) 606 (12.8%) <0.01
Other 389 (9.0%) 339 (7.5%) 318 (7.1%) 304 (6.4%) <0.01
*

No and % of total tracheotomy operations are displayed.

p Value represents a trend over time for each characteristic category.

Includes bronchopulmonary dysplasia, hyaline membrane disease, interstitial pulmonary fibrosis of prematurity and idiopathic respiratory distress syndrome of the newborn.