Percutaneous tracheostomy with the Blue Rhino™ technique:: presentation of 100 consecutive patients

We assessed the peri-operative, early and late complications in 100 percutaneous tracheostomies performed with the Blue Rhino TM kit. The success rate was 98%. Peri-operative complications occurred in 30 patients. Six major complications occurred; these included bleeding which required surgical exploration (n = 3), and pneumothoraces (n = 2) and one false passage. Cannula insertion was made easier by blunt dissection of the cervical tissues anterior to the trachea. The median duration of the procedure was 8.5 min, which is significantly longer than other authors' results. Only one major complication occurred while the patient was cannulated (serious bleeding requiring exploration). Finally, in a single patient a tracheal stenosis occurred as a major late complication which eventually was treated by a successful tracheal resection. Percutaneous tracheostomy with the Blue Rhino(TM) kit is safe with a low incidence of major complications.