Impact of Vertical and Horizontal Skin Incisions on Outcome Measures in Tracheostomies

Tracheostomy is a life-saving procedure in which an opening is created in the anterior wall of the trachea. Different skin incision types are administered in tracheostomy procedures, predominantly vertical and horizontal. Various literature on the skin incision types in tracheostomy had contradictory findings, with different studies observing that one skin incision type had better outcomes than its counterpart. Hence the objective of this study was to compare the outcomes associated with vertical and horizontal skin incisions in patients undergoing tracheostomy. Method The present study assessed the outcome measures between the two incision types (vertical and horizontal) in tracheostomy. A prospective longitudinal study was done based on an academic tertiary hospital in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. Participants above 18 years who underwent tracheostomy were enrolled in the study and followed up over six months during intraoperative, immediate, within seven days, and long-term periods. Result In intraoperative complications, bleeding was most common (n = 15, 16.7%), followed by passage of tube into false tract (n = 6, 6.7%) and saturation drop (n = 2, 2.2%). Immediate complications comprised T-tube blockage (n = 4, 4.4%) and bleeding (n = 1, 1.1%). Complications within seven days occurred only in the horizontal group in which stomal site ulceration (n = 4, 6.7%) and delayed bleeding (n = 2, 3.3%) was seen, and one participant had unintended decannulation. In the long term, complications observed were stomal granulation (n = 9, 19.1%), dysphagia (n = 7, 14.9%), and unintended decannulation (n = 4, 8.5%). Conclusion In the current study, the most common intraoperative complication was bleeding, the immediate complication was tube dislodgement, and tracheostomy site ulcer was the most common complication within seven days, similar to the literature findings.