TABLE 2a.
Demographics/Outcomes for tracheostomy versus no tracheostomy
| Tracheostomy (N=149) | No Tracheostomy (N=195) | p | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Age | 43 (18–82) | 44 (18–90) | 0.9355 |
| Male | 122 (81.9%) | 155 (79.5%) | 0.6800 |
| Blunt mechanism | 129 (86.6%) | 166 (85.1%) | 0.7570 |
| Mean injury severity score | 34 +/− 17 | 31 +/− 15 | 0.0553 |
| Mean AIS-head | 4 +/− 2 | 3 +/− 2 | 0.0006 |
| Mean AIS-chest | 2 +/− 2 | 3 +/− 2 | 0.0297 |
| Median arrival Glasgow coma scale | 13 (3–15) | 15 (10–15) | 0.0029 |
| Cervical injury | 122 (81.9%) | 100 (51.3%) | |
| Thoracic injury | 24 (16.1%) | 66 (33.9%) | 0.0000 |
| Lumbar injury | 3 (2.0%) | 29 (14.9%) | |
| Complete injury | 93 (62.4%) | 79 (40.5%) | 0.0000 |
| Traumatic brain injury | 35 (23.5%) | 37 (19.0%) | 0.0220 |
| Other injury | 96 (64.4%) | 113 (58.0%) | 0.0150 |
| Operative stabilization | 101 (67.8%) | 128 (65.6%) | 0.2490 |
| Ventilator associated pneumonia | 91 (61.1%) | 40 (20.5%) | 0.0000 |
| Acute lung injury | 19 (12.8%) | 7 (3.6%) | 0.0020 |
| Acute respiratory distress syndrome | 18 (12.1%) | 12 (6.2%) | 0.0650 |
| ICU days | 22 (16–33) | 6 (4–11) | 0.0001 |
| Hospital days | 30 (20–41) | 13 (8–23) | 0.0001 |
| Ventilator-free days (to 28 days) | 1 (0–11) | 24 (15–26) | 0.0001 |
| Extubation attempted (prior to tracheostomy) | 23 (15.4%) | 164 (84.1%) | 0.0000 |
| Not mechanically ventilated at discharge | 80 (53.7%) | 167 (85.6%) | 0.0000 |
| Cause of death secondary to respiratory failure | 2 (1.3%) | 4 (2.1%) | 0.1910 |
| Expired | 9 (6.0%) | 23 (11.8%) | 0.0910 |
*
Patient demographics, injury characteristics, ventilatory status at discharge or transfer, and outcomes for patients by tracheostomy vs. no tracheostomy. Significance assessed by Kruskal-Wallis for continuous and Fisher’s exact test for dichotomous outcomes among groups. Data are mean +/− SD, median (inter-quartile range), or n (%) as indicated. For not-normally distributed variables reported as median with inter-quartile ranges. Ventilator-free days are counted to 28 days. For patients who received tracheostomy, median time to tracheostomy was 7.5 days (IQR 5–11 days).