TABLE 2b.
Demographics/Outcomes for patients with tracheostomy and off MV at discharge vs. no tracheostomy and off MV at discharge
| Tracheostomy & off MV at D/C (N=80) | No tracheostomy & off MV at D/C (N=167) | p | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Age | 40 (18–82) | 41 (18–83) | 0.7793 |
| Male | 66 (82.5%) | 130 (77.8%) | 0.5110 |
| Blunt mechanism | 67 (83.8%) | 140 (83.8%) | 0.2490 |
| Mean injury severity score | 32 +/− 16 | 30 +/− 13 | 0.1769 |
| Mean AIS-head | 3 +/− 2.0 | 2 +/− 2 | 0.0197 |
| Mean AIS-chest | 2 +/− 2 | 3 +/− 2 | 0.2652 |
| Median arrival Glasgow coma scale | 14 (3–15) | 15 (11–15) | 0.0069 |
| Cervical injury | 60 (75%) | 79 (47.3%) | |
| Thoracic injury | 18 (22.5%) | 60 (35.9%) | 0.0000 |
| Lumbar injury | 2 (2.5%) | 28 (16.8%) | |
| Complete spinal cord injury | 45 (56.3%) | 64 (38.3%) | 0.0000 |
| Traumatic brain injury | 15 (18.8%) | 29 (17.4%) | 0.0690 |
| Other injury | 51 (63.8%) | 93 (55.7%) | 0.0080 |
| Operative stabilization | 50 (62.5%) | 115 (68.9%) | 0.4920 |
| Ventilator Associated Pneumonia | 39 (48.8%) | 32 (19.2%) | 0.0000 |
| Acute lung Injury | 8 (10.0%) | 4 (2.4%) | 0.0000 |
| Acute respiratory distress syndrome | 10 (12.5%) | 6 (3.6%) | 0.0060 |
| ICU days | 21 (14–28) | 6 (4–11) | 0.0001 |
| Hospital days | 30 (22–41) | 14 (9–25) | 0.0001 |
| Ventilator-free days (to 28 days) | 10 (1–16) | 25 (21–26) | 0.0001 |
*
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.