Bedside Tracheostomy in the Intensive Care Unit: A Prospective Randomized Trial Comparing Open Surgical Tracheostomy With Endoscopically Guided Percutaneous Dilational Tracheotomy

Objectives Objectives of the study were 1) to analyze the complication incidence and resource utilization of two methods of bedside tracheostomy and 2) to define selection criteria for bedside tracheostomy. Study Design Prospective randomized trial in the setting of a tertiary care center at a university hospital. Methods One hundred sixty‐four consecutive intubated patients selected for elective tracheostomy were enrolled. One hundred patients met selection criteria for bedside tracheostomy and were randomly assigned to either open surgical tracheostomy (50) or endoscopically guided percutaneous dilational tracheotomy(50). The remaining 64 patients received open surgical tracheostomies in the operating room. Main outcome measures were 1) perioperative and postoperative complication incidence and 2) resource utilization. Results Patients meeting our selection criteria for bedside tracheostomy had a significantly reduced perioperative complication rate compared with those who failed to meet these criteria, and subsequently underwent tracheostomy placement in the operating room (5% vs. 20%, P less than or equal to .01). No statistically significant difference was found in the perioperative complication incidence between the two methods of bedside tracheostomy. However, percutaneous tracheostomy placement at the bedside resulted in a significant increase in postoperative complication incidence (16% vs. 2%, P