The micro-trach. A seven-year experience with transtracheal oxygen therapy.

Over a six-year period, 200 patients requiring long-term oxygen therapy for hypoxemic lung disease underwent insertion of the micro-trach transtracheal catheter and were evaluated for one to seven years. The catheter requires no removal for cleaning; it is designed to function undisturbed within the trachea for six months between replacements. Transtracheal oxygen delivery and saline instillation were instituted immediately after inserting the device. Oxygen administration at a rate of 0.25 to 3 L/min was equivalent to 1 to 8 L/min delivered nasally. By the end of one year of follow-up, 12.5 percent of patients had dropped out of the study. Most patients comply with prescribed 24-hour-a-day oxygen use; in keeping with the NOTT study, life expectancy of emphysema patients may therefore be increased.