Methods: Between January 2015 and December 2020, a total of 54 patients (17 males, 37 females; mean age: 54.9±13.1 years; range, 39 to 77 years) who underwent elective ultrasound- or bronchoscopy-guided percutaneous dilatational tracheostomy after a median sternotomy were included. We compared the ultrasound-guided group (n=25) with the bronchoscopy-guided group (n=29) regarding all-cause mortality and complications. Safety assessments included major and minor bleeding, procedural hypoxic or hypotensive event, cardiac dysrhythmias, tracheal injury, damage to adjacent structures, and requirement of conversion to open surgical tracheostomy.

Results: No tracheostomy procedure-related death was observed in either group. The median time for tracheostomy was 13 (range, 8 to 17) min in the ultrasound-guided group and 10 (range, 7 to 15) min in the bronchoscopy-guided group (p=0.387). There was no need for conversion between the two methods or conversion to surgical tracheostomy for any patient. The overall complication rates did not significantly differ between the groups (p=0.15).

Conclusion: Ultrasound-guided percutaneous dilatational tracheostomy can be safely performed in patients undergoing sternotomy. Complication rates of the procedure are similar to those guided with bronchoscopy.