ABSTRACT
The term ‘tracheostomy’ is derived from Greek and means ‘to cut the trachea’. It can be considered one of the most ancient surgical procedures, since the first reports about an intervention very similar to modern tracheostomy can be found in books of Hindu and Egyptian medicine written about 3500-4000 years ago.7 Over the course of centuries, tracheostomy was considered, at times, as a lifesaving technique or a sort of ‘barbaric’ procedure, so that after periods of great success there were periods of obsolescence. This alternation lasted approximately until the nineteenth century, when, thanks to the work of Trousseau and Chevalier Jackson, clearer rules about indications and techniques were set. But the present popularity of this technique has been boosted by developments in the past 60 years: first, the poliomyelitis epidemics in the 1950s contributed to the inclusion of prolonged mechanical ventilation among the main indications for tracheostomy, which was until then mainly employed for upper airway obstruction; and second and third, respectively, the development of tracheostomy tubes
specifically designed to minimize tracheal injury and percutaneous dilational techniques that made this pro cedure simpler and feasible at the bedside. Despite their frequent interchangeable use, the terms tracheostomy and tracheotomy are distinct and indicate an opening in the trachea with or without a surgical attachment to the skin, respectively.8
