Table 2.

Common underlying diagnoses for elective tracheostomy

Diagnosis	Total tracheostomies	Elective tracheostomies
Oral or head and neck cancer	280	65%
Lower respiratory tract infection / respiratory failure	37	9%
Trauma	23	5%
Other infection/abscess	17	4%
Osteoradionecrosis	5	1%
Other acute medical pathology	72	17%