Surgical tracheostomy in COVID-19 patients: Report of 5 cases

Abstract

Severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) related to SARS-COV-2 is resulting in increasing numbers of patients requiring mechanical ventilation. Although tracheostomy may reduce the duration of mechanical ventilation in these patients, it is considered a highly aerosol generating procedure and controversies regarding its safety, time of realization and indications remain to date. We share our experience about 5 cases of surgical tracheostomy in COVID-19 patients performed in our ICU.