Nasal mucociliary clearance in patients with tracheostomy.

Nasal mucociliary clearance (NMC) time was estimated in 30 tracheostomized patients (24 males & 6 females) in the age group of 13-55 years which was 7.04±0.38 minutes: The patients suffering from nose and paranasal sinus disorders; taking drugs like bromhexine; undergoing radiotherapy and smokers were excluded from the study. The nasal mucociliary clearance in 30 age & sex matched healthy controls was 9.16±0.62 minutes. The NMC was found to he significantly lowered in patients with tracheostomy (p<0.01). This decrease in NMC tune was significant in tracheostimized patients of more than 3 weeks duration (p<0.01), whereas, it was not found significantly lowered in patients with tracheostomy of less than 3 weeks duration (p>0.1).