Techniques for performing tracheostomy.

One of the most commonly performed procedures in the critically ill, tracheostomy has been described and used for lifesaving treatment of upper-airway obstruction for at least 3,500 years. The procedure can be performed surgically in the operating room or at the bedside in the intensive care unit. Recently, percutaneous techniques performed by a variety of specialists have become popular alternatives to open surgical tracheostomy. Various devices have been developed to minimize identified risk and improve the simplicity of the procedure. These techniques and devices are described in this paper.