Morbidity, mortality, and follow-up after pediatric tracheostomy: A national cohort study.

Cohort studyInternational journal of pediatric otorhinolaryngology· Jul 2026

Morbidity, mortality, and follow-up after pediatric tracheostomy: A national cohort study.

Matej Cankar, Miha Zabret, Daša Gluvajić

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Laryngology & VoiceCohort studyPrognosisQ2IF 1.6

Over half of pediatric tracheostomy patients experience late complications.

Morbidity, mortality, and follow-up after pediatric tracheostomy: A national cohort study.

Matej Cankar … Daša Gluvajić

International journal of pediatric otorhinolaryngology · Jul 2026 · Q2 in Otorhinolaryngology

Purpose

To describe the clinical characteristics, quantify complications, analyze mortality, and identify the clinical factors associated with increased need for otorhinolaryngology (ENT) follow-up visits in pediatric patients with a tracheostomy.

Methods

Retrospective cohort study.

n = 43 patients

Results

51.2%

over half of children with a breathing tube experienced problems later on

n = 43 patients

More results

The most common indication for tracheostomy was long-term ventilation (25/43; 58.1%).

Eight patients (18.6%) developed post-intubation laryngeal stenosis.

More results

We identified upper airway obstruction as an indication for tracheostomy (p = 0.001) and the presence of post-intubation laryngeal stenosis (p = 0.021) to be independent risk factors for increased ENT follow-up visits.

Seven patients (16.3%) died; no deaths were tracheostomy-related.

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Conclusion · 1 of 2

Pediatric tracheostomy was associated with frequent complications. Mortality was not related to the presence of tracheostomy.

Conclusion · 2 of 2

Children tracheostomized for upper airway obstruction, and those with post-intubation laryngeal stenosis required significantly more ENT follow-up visits.

Morbidity, mortality, and follow-up after pediatric tracheostomy: A national cohort study.

Morbidity, mortality, and follow-up after pediatric tracheostomy: A national cohort study.

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