Preventing accidental decannulations following tracheostomy.

Tracheostomy in infants and children is associated with a high rate of accidental decannulation in the early postoperative period. Eighty-eight patients underwent tracheostomy from 1980 to 1985, and 22 were sutured in place. Accidental decannulation occurred in 31.8% of the nonsutured and 4.5% of the sutured tracheostomies. We advocate suturing tracheostomy tubes in place in infants and children and describe a simple suture technique for this purpose.