Bleeding Hazard of Percutaneous Tracheostomy in COVID-19 Patients Supported With Venovenous Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation: A Case Series

Objectives: Tracheostomy usually is performed to aid weaning from mechanical ventilation and facilitate rehabilitation and secretion clearance. Little is known about the safety of percutaneous tracheostomy in patients with severe COVID-19 supported on venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VV-ECMO). This study aimed to investigate the bleeding risk of bedside percutaneous tracheostomy in patients with COVID-19 infection supported with VV-ECMO.

Design: A Retrospective review of electronic data for routine care of patients on ECMO.

Setting: Tertiary, university-affiliated national ECMO center.

Participants: Patients with COVID-19 who underwent percutaneous tracheostomy while on VV-ECMO support.

Interventions: No intervention was conducted during this study.

Measurements and main results: Electronic medical records of 16 confirmed patients with COVID-19 who underwent percutaneous tracheostomy while on VV-ECMO support, including patient demographics, severity of illness, clinical variables, procedural complications, and outcomes, were compared with 16 non-COVID-19 patients. The SPSS statistical software was used for statistical analysis. The demographic data were compared using the chi-square test, and normality assumption was tested using the Shapiro-Wilk test. The indications for tracheostomy in all the patients were prolonged mechanical ventilation and sedation management. None of the patients suffered a life-threatening procedural complication within 48 hours. Moderate-to-severe bleeding was similar in both groups. There was no difference in 30- and 90-days mortality between both groups. As per routine screening results, none of the staff involved contracted COVID-19 infection.

Conclusions: In this case series, percutaneous tracheostomy during VV-ECMO in patients with COVID-19 appeared to be safe and did not pose additional risks to patients or healthcare workers.