Percutaneous tracheostomy

Abstract

The terms tracheostomy and tracheotomy refer to the creation of an opening in the trachea for the insertion of a tube. The procedure itself is sometimes referred to as a tracheotomy and the opening, a tracheostomy, though often the two terms are used interchangeably. The addition of the descriptor, percutaneous, differentiates this technique from the previously standard surgical or open tracheostomy. This technique has transformed what was once a procedure performed almost exclusively in the operating room by surgeons alone, to one that can now be safely performed at the bedside by surgeons and internists alike.