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Quick Tip for Families in Intensive Care: How Many Patients Die During a Tracheostomy Procedure?

Hi, it’s Patrik Hutzel from intensivecarehotline.com with another quick tip for families in intensive care.

So, we had a question from one of our clients who says, “How many patients are dying during a tracheostomy procedure?” Here is how this question came about. We are currently working with a client who has their mother in intensive care on a ventilator for about 12 days. She can’t come off the ventilator and the breathing tube for now. However, she’s passing the spontaneous breathing trials, but because she’s got no gag or cough reflex, she won’t be able to protect her airway even if she can breathe by herself. So, the next natural step is to do a tracheostomy, assuming that’s what the patient and the family want.

Now, interestingly enough, the ICU says that it’s very likely that she can’t have a tracheostomy because she will most likely die during the procedure. Now, I’m a very straightforward person that is a whole lot of nonsense from my experience. I have worked in intensive care for over 20 years in three different countries where I also worked as a nurse unit manager in intensive care for over five years.

I have not seen patients died during the tracheostomy procedure, assuming the selection of patients is correct. Your patient is stable, PEEP (Positive End-Expiratory Pressure) is 5 or below, the FiO2 (Fraction of Inspired Oxygen) requirements are 35% or lower, and arterial blood gases are stable so that you can put up a patient to 100% FiO2 during the procedure, assuming they’re hemodynamically stable.

That is all the case in this situation for our client’s mother. She’s hemodynamically stable. As I said, she’s on the lowest settings on the ventilator. If she had a tracheostomy already, she would be able to have time off the ventilator already. But because she doesn’t have a tracheostomy yet, she needs one to be able to be weaned off the ventilator to protect her airway. So, I cannot recall patients dying during a tracheostomy procedure, as long as you manage the risk accordingly.

There are some patients that might be at risk of bleeding because they might be on a heparin infusion, they might be on Warfarin, they might be on medication such as Plavix or Clopidogrel and then you have to stop anticoagulation, of course, before you do the surgery.

But other than that, like I just described, I have not seen any patients die and I also can’t find any research about it when you type into Google, “How many patients die during a tracheostomy procedure?” You don’t get any statistics. So, I do argue therefore that the number is very low.

So, what does it come down to here? It does come down to that the biggest challenge for families in intensive care is simply that they don’t know what they don’t know. They don’t know what to look for. They don’t know what questions to ask. They don’t know their rights and they don’t know how to manage doctors and nurses in intensive care.

Now, the reality is that if you buy into the negative narrative of intensive care teams, if our client hasn’t gotten a second opinion by us, her mom might be moved towards end of life. Now, it all comes down to what questions you ask and are you asking the right questions? If you don’t do that, if you bind to the negative narrative of intensive care teams, you might be doomed how many patients actually do die because families believe everything that intensive care team says, and you’re not getting a second opinion? Have you considered that?

Everything comes with a side effect in life, including treatment in intensive care, everything comes with a side effect but the likelihood from my experience for someone to die during a tracheostomy procedure, it’s very low, assuming the selection of the patient is the right one and you’re minimizing the risk and you’re not doing anything that’s unsafe. That’s really what it comes down to in situations like that. I hope that helps.

Question everything. You have to question everything because if you’re not questioning everything, literally, you’re not in a position to make informed decisions, get peace of mind, control, power, and influence. It’s quite clearly here. Now, our client’s mother is getting a second chance at life and that’s a good thing.

I am just typing, “How many patients died during a tracheostomy procedure?” in into ChatGPT. It says, “The mortality rate associated with tracheostomy procedures can vary depending on factors such as the patient’s overall health. The reason for the tracheostomy and the skill of the medical team performing the procedure. Generally, the mortality rate is low, but it is essential to discuss individual cases with healthcare professionals for specific information.” Pretty much what I’ve been telling you is that the mortality rate is low, assuming you’ve got the right team and assuming the selection of the patient is correct.

Now, are patients dying after they had a tracheostomy? Yes, they can die after they had a tracheostomy. But at least it usually buys patients time to get better, it usually buys patients time to get better.

So, that is my quick tip for today.

If you have a loved one in intensive care and you need help, go to intensivecarehotline.com.  Call us on one of the numbers on the top of our website or send me an email to [email protected].

Also, we have a membership for families in intensive care that you can get access to at intensivecarehotline.com if you’re clicking on the membership link in or if you go to intensivecaresupport.org directly. Now, in our membership for families of critically ill patients in intensive care, you have access to me and my team, 24 hours a day, in the membership area and via email and we answer all questions intensive care related.

Now, I also offer one-on-one consulting and advocacy over the phone, via Skype, via email, via WhatsApp, Zoom, whichever medium works best for you. I talk to doctors and nurses directly. I talk to you and your families directly making sure you make informed decisions, have peace of mind, control, power, and influence. I also represent you in family meetings with intensive care teams so, once again, that you make informed decisions, have peace of mind, control, power, and influence and that you get not walked all over in family meetings with intensive care teams, that you have clinical representation, that you have someone there that knows about your rights that the intensive care team is trying to deny you.

Now, I also do once a week a YouTube live where you can ask me anything. It’s usually at 6:30 PM Eastern Standard Time currently, on a Saturday. 6:30 PM on Eastern Standard Time in North America.

Now, we also offer medical record review in real-time so that you can get a second opinion in real time. We also offer medical record reviews after intensive care if you have unanswered questions, if you need closure, or if you are simply suspecting medical negligence.

If you like my videos, subscribe to my YouTube channel for regular updates for families in intensive care. Click the like button, click the notification bell, comment below what you want to see next questions, insights you have, share the video with your friends and families, and click the notification bell.

Thanks for watching.

This is Patrik Hutzel from intensivecarehotline.com and I will talk to you in a few days.

Take care for now.