Abstract
Tracheostomy was performed on 11 patients (9 males, 2 females) during an 11-year period (1984-1994) at the Osaka Prefectural General Hospital. The causative diseases were central nervous system disorders (5 cases), laryngo-tracheal stenosis (2 cases), achondroplasia (2 cases), Werdnig-Hoffmann disease (1 case)and Tay-Sacs disease (1 case). The indication of the tracheostomies was respiratory management in most of the cases. Complications after surgery included 5 cases of tracheal or stomal granulation, 1 case of tracheo-innomunate artery fistula, 1 case of failure of decannulation and 1 case of hypooxidecephalus due to obstruction of the T-tube. Regarding course and outcome, 5 of the 11 patients who underwent these tracheostomies left the hospital with a stoma and were under respiratory management in their homes and they achieved the improvement of the quality of life. Five patients died due to an aggravation of their primary disease.
