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SAN ANTONIO Surgically opening the windpipe, or trachea, within the first seven days of the start of mechanical ventilation decreases the time patients spend on ventilators, shortens their ICU stay and lowers their risk of ventilator-associated pneumonia, according to a systematic review published Thursday (March 11) in
JAMA Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery. We analyzed the existing medical literature to unravel a question that is very pertinent to adult critical care, said senior author Alvaro Moreira, MD, MSc, of The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UT Health San Antonio). At what point should surgeons open the trachea in critical care patients to most benefit them?