Safety of percutaneous tracheotomy in patients with cricoid cartilage not identified: report of 122 cases

Percutaneous tracheotomy (PT) is one of the most frequent procedures carried out in critically ill patients. However, it carries contraindications in the patient group younger than 16 years of age, in cases with known or anticipated difficult endotracheal intubations, in infection of surgical areas and in cases with cricoid cartilage not identified. In this retrospective study, we evaluated the safety of performing the PT-associated blunt dilatational exploration with a right-angle clamp in patients having cricoid cartilage not identified.