Pediatric tracheotomy. A five-year comparison study.

A five-year retrospective study (1972-1976) of pediatric tracheotomies that were performed on patients (age limit, 14 years) was undertaken with the following objectives in mind. We chose to compare the indications, complications, and both the short- and long-term follow-up results of patients who were arbitrarily classified into two groups. Group 1 consisted of those patients who weighed more than 2,500 g at the time of tracheotomy, and group 2 were those who weighed less than 2,500 g. A total of 61 patients were included in our study. Forty-eight patients (57 tracheotomies) were placed into group 1, and 13 patients (15 tracheotomies) were in group 2. The results of our study demonstrate that there is a higher morbidity, complication rate, and death rate in the patients in group 2.