PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Liang Shan
AU  - Panpan Hao
AU  - Feng Xu
AU  - Yuguo Chen
TI  - Benefits of early tracheotomy: a meta-analysis based on six observational studies
AID  - 10.4187/respcare.02413
DP  - 2013 May 07
TA  - Respiratory Care
PG  - respcare.02413
4099  - http://rc.rcjournal.com/content/early/2013/05/07/respcare.02413.short
4100  - http://rc.rcjournal.com/content/early/2013/05/07/respcare.02413.full
AB  - Background: Whether early tracheotomy can improve the clinical outcomes of critically ill patients remains controversial. The current study aimed to discuss the potential benefits of early tracheotomy compared to late tracheotomy with meta-analysis of observational researches. Methods: An electronic search (up to February 28, 2013) was conducted by a uniform requirement and then clinical data satisfying the predefined inclusion criteria were extracted. Results: Data from a total of 2037 subjects were included from six observational retrospective studies. Meta-analysis suggested that early-tracheotomy was associated with significant reductions in mortality (odds ratio [OR], 0.77; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.62-0.96), duration of mechanical ventilation(MV) (mean difference: -10.04; 95% CI [-15.15, -4.92]), length of intensive care unit (ICU) stay (mean difference: -8.80; 95% CI [-9.71, -7.89]) and length of hospital stay (mean difference: -12.18; 95% CI [-18.25, -6.11]). However, as compared with late-tracheotomy, early-tracheotomy did not reduce the incidence of ventilation associated pneumonia. Conclusion: Our meta-analysis of retrospective observational studies suggests that early tracheotomy performed between days 3 and 7 after intubation had some advantages including decreased mortality, reduced length of ICU stay, length of hospital stay and MV duration in ICU patients.