The Clinical Application of the Tracheostomy Decision-Making Program in Respiratory Care Center Prolonged Mechanical Ventilation Patients in Taiwan

BACKGROUND: We applied the tracheostomy decision-making program for respiratory care center prolonged mechanical ventilation patients. Our objectives are to correct the misconception of patients about tracheostomy. We expect to understand whether the program is effective in educating patients and whether the patients are satisfied with the results of their decision-making. We compared the prognostic differences between patients receiving tracheostomy and those who continue to have an endotracheal tube, which serves as our basis to provide suggestions for patients in the shared decision-making program. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A retrospective study was conducted in Dalin Tzu Chi Hospital from January 2017 to December 2019. We set up a tracheostomy decision-making program. The medical team identified eligible patients. We tracked the survival of each patient and followed up on each patient to ask whether they thought they had made an optimal decision based on the results of their participation in the tracheostomy decision-making program in January 2020. Data of respiratory care center prolonged mechanical ventilation patients who participated in the tracheostomy decision-making program were collected and analyzed. RESULTS: Fifty-seven respiratory care center patients attended the tracheostomy decision-making program. At the end of the study, 37 patients underwent tracheostomy (64.9%), and 20 patients maintained endotracheal tube intubation (35.1%). The survival rate of patients undergoing tracheostomy was 86.5% and 32 participants (86.5%) believed that they made an optimal decision after participating in the tracheostomy decision-making program. The survival rate of patients who maintained endotracheal tube intubation was 40%, and twenty (100%) participants believed that they made an optimal decision after participating in the tracheostomy decision-making program. CONCLUSION: The clinical application of the tracheostomy decision-making program ensures that patients have a clearer understanding of the methods of tracheostomy and endotracheal tube intubation. Overall, 91.2% of the participants believed that they made an optimal decision despite the end result.