AB282. SOH26AB_0237. Emergency management of tracheostomies: a survey of anaesthetic trainees
Anaesthesia Posters

AB282. SOH26AB_0237. Emergency management of tracheostomies: a survey of anaesthetic trainees

Gavin O’Connor, Patrick McGowan, Liam Murphy, Jennita Ariaratnam, Marianne Fitzgerald

Department of Anaesthesiology, Intensive Care, and Pain Medicine, University Hospital Limerick, Limerick, Ireland

Background: Tracheostomies are surgical airways commonly inserted for patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) on prolonged mechanical ventilation, or for patients having extensive upper airway surgery. Airway emergencies regarding tracheostomies do occur, and are often managed by anaesthetic non-consultant hospital doctors (NCHDs). These trainees require structured training and knowledge of the emergency algorithms outlined by the Difficult Airway Society (DAS) and the National Tracheostomy Safety Project (NTSP). The purpose of this audit was to assess the baseline knowledge of the DAS guidelines regarding the emergency management of tracheostomies by anaesthetic NCHDs in University Hospital Limerick (UHL), and to evaluate the impact of an education session.

Methods: An anonymous survey was distributed amongst anaesthetic NCHDs at UHL. This survey measured their levels of experience, knowledge, and confidence managing tracheostomy emergencies. A formal teaching session was then delivered, outlining the emergency tracheostomy algorithms, as per the NTSP. A post-teaching session survey was then conducted to assess its impact.

Results: Prior to the teaching, only 12% of anaesthetic NCHDs had received formal training on emergency airway management in patients with tracheostomies. Furthermore, over 58% expressed some level of discomfort in their levels of knowledge and confidence. After an in-person teaching session, 100% of participants reported increased levels of comfort and knowledge in both the recognition of emergency airway scenarios in patients with tracheostomies and the application of the NTSP emergency algorithms.

Conclusions: The educational session greatly enhanced anaesthetic NCHDs’ confidence and knowledge in dealing with tracheostomy emergencies. This audit highlighted the importance of formal training of emergency algorithms regarding tracheostomies to promote patient safety.

Keywords: Anaesthesia; intensive care; laryngectomy; National Tracheostomy Safety Project (NTSP); tracheostomy

Acknowledgments

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Footnote

Funding: None.

Conflicts of Interest: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Ethical Statement: The authors are accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

Open Access Statement: This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0), which permits the non-commercial replication and distribution of the article with the strict proviso that no changes or edits are made and the original work is properly cited (including links to both the formal publication through the relevant DOI and the license). See: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.

doi: 10.21037/map-26-ab282
Cite this abstract as: O’Connor G, McGowan P, Murphy L, Ariaratnam J, Fitzgerald M. AB282. SOH26AB_0237. Emergency management of tracheostomies: a survey of anaesthetic trainees. Mesentery Peritoneum 2026;10:AB282.

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