Data from: Tracheostomy and long-term mortality in ICU patients undergoing prolonged mechanical ventilation

Introduction. In critically ill patients undergoing prolonged mechanical
ventilation (MV), the difference in long-term outcomes between patients
with or without tracheostomy remains unexplored. Methods. Ancillary study
of a prospective international multicentre observational cohort in 21
centres in France and Belgium, including 2087 patients, with a one-year
follow-up after admission. We included patients with a MV duration ≥10
days, with or without tracheostomy. We explored the one-year mortality
with a classical Cox regression model (adjustment on age, SAPS II,
baseline diagnosis and withdrawal of life-sustaining therapies) and a Cox
regression model using tracheostomy as a time-dependant variable. Results.
29.5% patients underwent prolonged MV, out of which 25.6% received
tracheostomy and 74.4% did not. At one-year, 45.2% patients had died in
the tracheostomy group and 51.5% patients had died in the group without
tracheostomy (p=0.001). In the Cox-adjusted regression model, tracheostomy
was not associated with improved one-year outcome (HR CI95 0.7
[0.5-1.001], p=0.051), as well as in the model using tracheostomy as a
time-dependent variable (OR CI 95 1 [0.7-1.4], p=0.9). Conclusions. In our
study, there was no statistically significant difference in the one-year
mortality of patients undergoing prolonged MV when receiving tracheostomy
or not.