Tracheotomy

[[Image:Tracheotomy_neck_profile.png|thumb|166px|Completed tracheotomy:

Complications

• Immediate - pneumothorax or pneumomediastinum, tracheoesophageal fistula, injury to great vessels or recurrent laryngeal nerves, bleeding, e.g. from divided thyroid isthmus
• Early - secretions and mucus plugging, disloged tube, respiratory arrest and post obstructive pulmonary edema (when tracheostomy is performed in a patient with longstanding upper airway obstruction, and is dependant on hypoxia drive for respiration)
• Late - bleeding from tracheoinnominate fistula (can be torrential), tracheal stenosis (from ischemia induced by a cuffed tracheostomy tube)