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Definition
By Mayo Clinic staff
Tracheostomy (tray-key-OS-tuh-me) is a surgically created hole through the front of your neck and into your windpipe (trachea). The term for the surgical procedure to create this opening is tracheotomy.
A tracheostomy provides an air passage to help you breathe when the usual route for breathing is somehow obstructed or impaired. A tracheostomy is often needed when health problems require long-term use of a machine (ventilator) to help you breathe. In rare cases, an emergency tracheotomy is performed when your airway is suddenly blocked, such as after a traumatic injury to your face or neck.
When a tracheostomy is no longer needed, it's allowed to heal shut or is surgically closed. For some people, a tracheostomy is permanent.
- Tracheostomy. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/trach. Accessed May 30, 2013.
- Hall JB, et al. Principles of Critical Care. 3rd ed. New York: The McGraw-Hill Companies; 2005. http://www.accessmedicine.com/content.aspx?aID=2287028. Accessed May 30, 2013.
- Hyzy RC. Overview of tracheostomy. http://www.uptodate.com/home. Accessed May 30, 2013.
- Bair AE. Emergent surgical cricothyrotomy (cricothyroidotomy). http://www.uptodate.com/home. Accessed May 30, 2013.
- Flint PW, et al. Cummings Otolaryngology: Head & Neck Surgery. 5th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Mosby Elsevier; 2010. http://www.mdconsult.com/books/about.do?about=true&eid=4-u1.0-B978-0-323-05283-2..X0001-8--TOP&isbn=978-0-323-05283-2&uniqId=230100505-57. Accessed May 17, 2013.
- Kasperbauer JL (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. June 10, 2013.
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