In the present study, suprastomal granulation tissue and stomal infection were found to be the most common complications of tracheostomy. Similar finding were also reported by Fasunla et al [24]. Complication rates associated with tracheostomy can be prevented by good surgical technique and meticulous postoperative care. Suprastomal granulation tissue is a notable late complication of tracheostomy that can be prevented with good surgical technique, sparing the cricoid cartilage during dissection. Stomal infection should

be promptly treated and cuffed selleckchem orotracheal ON-01910 intubation for more than a week in unconscious and tetanus patients should be avoided. Tracheostomy decannulation in patients with temporary BIIB057 tracheostomy was successfully carried out in 72.4% of patients who survived, which is almost similar to the study done by Hussain et al [25] showing 74.1% decannulation accomplished successfully. The optimal timing of tracheostomy decannulation in patients with temporary tracheostomy depends mainly on the underlying disease and should be considered

only if the original upper-airway obstruction is resolved, if airway secretions are controlled, and if mechanical ventilation is no longer needed [26]. The overall mortality recorded in our series was 13.6% and these were from underlying diseases. There was no mortality attributed to tracheostomy in this present review reflecting significant improvements not only in the skill of placing a tracheostomy but also in the post operative management of these patients in our hospital. Our figures for the overall median duration of hospital stay in the present study was 26 days, which is higher compared to what is reported in other studies [10, 11]. The reasons for the longer duration of hospital stay may be attributed to the underlying Anacetrapib disease and presence of postoperative complications. Also, despite being a life-saving procedure, tracheostomy is not psychosocially acceptable to most

patients because of the difficulty with phonation and the stigma associated with it by some uninformed people. Therefore, most patients with temporary tracheostomy desire decannulation before being discharged into the community from the hospital. This might have contributed to longer duration of hospital stay in this study. Due to the poor socio-economic conditions in our setting, the duration of inpatient stay for our patients may be longer than expected due to social reasons. The potential limitation of this study is that it is retrospective from a single centre and the fact that information about some patients was incomplete in view of the retrospective nature of the study might have introduced some bias in our findings. A similar study in a prospective setting is highly recommended in order to describe our experiences of tracheostomies not only in our centre but also country-wide.