There comes a time when someone may face certain severe obstruction to breathing and might need an incision of a tube into the windpipe. This tube is called tracheostomy tube or simply a trach-tube and the surgical procedure to create an opening through the neck into the windpipe (trachea) is called Tracheostomy.
Patients May Need A Tracheostomy Tube?
Patients having paralyzed muscles that affect swallowing, having large object blocking the airway, having the inability to breathe on their own, severe neck and mouth injuries, cancer of the neck which can affect breathing by pressing the airway, just to name few, would require incision of tracheostomy or trach tube. It may also be inserted to the patients who have normal breathing and swallowing problems due to a surgery around their voice box.
Tracheostomy Tube Care
The procedure of tracheostomy is quite painful and so, if the situation is critical, not only a general anesthesia is used. A numbing medicine is placed into that area to help the patient feel less pain during the procedure. This procedure comes with certain complications and risks such as erosion of the trachea, puncture of the lung and lung collapse, scar tissue that causes pain or trouble breathing, reactions to medications (including heart attack and stroke), scarring, infection, bleeding, nerve injury (including paralysis) etc.
When it comes to the patient end, after training and practice, they can learn to talk with a tracheostomy tube. However, it will take some time to learn how to communicate with others. Most patients need one to three days to adapt to breathing through a tracheostomy tube. In addition, such patients are able to go back to their normal lifestyle. They may wear a loose covering such as a scarf or other protection over the tracheostomy stoma (hole) and use safety precautions when they are exposed to water, aerosols, powder, or food particles.
On a surgical point of view, cuts are made to show the tough cartilage rings that form the outer wall of trachea and the surgeon creates an opening into the trachea. That’s when the tracheostomy tube is inserted.
Therefore, since tracheostomy is a procedure with lot of risks and complications, there has to be skilled nursing care to prevent these risks and complications. There are certain poor outcomes of such critical procedures, which can be avoided if nurses follow evidence-based guidelines or practice tracheostomy in a simulation-based environment.
For more info on simulation based training & learning visit at http://www.inscol.com/india/cce
