Early percutaneous tracheotomy in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and infection in healthcare personnel: a cohort study

Abstract

To the Editor-Early tracheotomy is associated with shorter intensive care unit (ICU) stay compared to late tracheotomy, 1 and this procedure could therefore be useful in a context of severely limited resources like the one observed during the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. 2 Nevertheless, tracheotomy in COVID-19 patients is considered risky for healthcare workers. ] Data were collected in patients admitted to the ICU of Fondazione Poliambulanza hospital in Brescia (Italy) from February 20, 2020, to May 5, 2020. Two cohorts of healthcare workers were identified: (1) the exposed cohort included doctors and nurses who participated in the early percutaneous tracheostomy procedure as first operator, fiberoscopist, instrumental or anesthesia nurse and (2) the nonexposed cohort included staff on duty in the COVID-19 ICU who never participated in the procedure.