Management of tracheostomy by caregivers in the intensive care unit

Bedside or surgical tracheostomy is a common procedure in the intensive care unit, even if its benefit regarding patient outcome remains debatable. Common care of tracheostomized patients include specificities not familiar to the inexperienced caregivers. The wide variety of tracheostomy tubes and the lack of evidence-based data on their daily management may trigger life-threatening events. Caregivers should be aware of the potential early and late complications to guarantee the quality of care and promptly adapted response. Here, we reviewed the tracheostomy daily care basics. Changing tracheostomy tubes is usually easy to perform, but the risk of fatal hypoxemia underlines the need for protocolized procedures. Suctioning procedures for tracheostomized patients is detailed as well.