Mediastinal tracheostomy: techniques, outcomes and quality of life—a systematic review
Jonas Peter Ehrsam, Ana-Maria Petrone, Marko Aleksic, Paul Christian Fuchs, Steffen Maune, Theresa Stork, Stéphane Collaud · 2026
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Description
Ehrsam and co-authors review mediastinal tracheostomy, a rare salvage airway operation, in this 2026 systematic review. The procedure routes the lower windpipe into the upper chest when the upper windpipe is too damaged for standard reconstruction. It is technically demanding and uncommon.
The review found 70 publications covering 437 operations across 85 years. Nearly all were the permanent front-of-chest type. Most surgeons removed the full breastbone top, though a half-removal variant has grown popular lately. A windpipe stump of at least 5 centimeters is advised, yet 12.6 percent of cases used shorter stumps. The authors also summarize complications and quality of life evidence for this last-resort operation.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Jonas Peter Ehrsam, Ana-Maria Petrone, Marko Aleksic, Paul Christian Fuchs, Steffen Maune, Theresa Stork, Stéphane Collaud |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 45 KB |
| VERSION | 1.0 |
| LICENSE | CC BY 4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |