A Study on the Safety of Percutaneous Tracheostomy in Patients with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Novel Corona Virus 2 (SARS-nCoV2) Infection: A Single-Center Observational Cohort Study in a CoVID Intensive Care Unit

BACKGROUND: We studied the safety of percutaneous dilatational tracheostomy (PCDT) in severe acute respiratory syndrome novel coronavirus 2 (SARS-nCoV2). PATIENTS AND METHODS: From 01 March 20 to 30 November 2020, 1635 required hospital admission of which 145 (9%) required intensive (ICU) care. The primary outcomes are mortality and secondary outcomes were duration of invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV), length of stay (LOS) in ICU and hospital, and days required for decannulation. RESULTS: Out of the 145 (9%), 107 (73.7%) were males (mean 61.4 years, median body mass index (BMI) of 28.2 kg/m(2)), and 38 (26.2%) were females (mean 58.10 years, median BMI of 31.2 kg/m(2)). In the cohort of 80 (55.17%) requiring IMV, 19 (23.7%) died within 72 hours and were not included in the study, 37 (group “NT”) and 24 (group “T”) had a median duration of ventilation of 9 d (IQR, 6-11) and 12 d (IQR, 11-17.25) respectively. Patients in group “T” underwent PCDT based on clinical criteria (fraction of inspired oxygen (FiO(2)) of ≤ 50% with positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) of ≤ 10 cms of H(2)O with stable hemodynamics), and 16 (66.7%) had survived. The reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) does not need to be negative, and none of the health care workers (HCW’s) were infected. The Cox-hazard ratio [HR] is 0.19, 95% confidence interval [CI] (0.09, 0.41) with a P-value of <0.001, 83 (57.2%) were discharged with a mortality of 42.8%. CONCLUSIONS: PCDT is safe and effective in patients anticipated in need of prolonged mechanical ventilation.