Surgical tracheotomy performed with and without dual antiplatelet therapy

Some patients who need dual antiplatelet therapy sometimes require tracheotomy. Aim of this study was to compare the rate of complications during and after surgical tracheotomy between patients requiring dual antiplatelet therapy and those without dual antiplatelet therapy. We retrospectively included 79 patients (62% men, mean age 64 ± 14 years) in the period 2007- 2011. The following complications were analyzed: need for surgical revision within 24 hours after tracheotomy, need for bronchoscopy within 24 hour after tracheotomy, need for blood transfusion within 24 hours after tracheotomy, death attributed to tracheotomy and any complication attributed to tracheotomy. We compared patients where tracheotomy was performed while receiving dual antiplatelet therapy (n=27, 34%) to patients where tracheotomy was performed without dual antiplatelet therapy (n=52, 66%). Nonsignificant differences between the two groups were observed general characteristics. There were no statistically significant differences in complications after tracheotomy (surgical revision after tracheotomy p=0.63, bronchoscopy after tracheotomy p=0.74, blood transfusion after tracheotomy p=0.59, death attributed to tracheotomy p=1.00 and any complication attributed to tracheotomy p=1.00). The study shows that tracheotomy is safe in cardiac patients on dual antiplatelet therapy.