Management of an existing tracheostomy tube in a patient who will undergo anesthesia

* Tracheostomy tube exchange during the first week after tracheostomy is associated with increased risk of potentially severe complications (eg, creating a false passage, hemorrhage, pneumothorax, pneumomediastinum, infection).

¶ Use of inhaled anesthetics with an uncuffed tube pollutes the operating room with those gases.

Δ At the end of anesthesia the tracheal tube should be exchanged back to the patient's original tracheostomy tube.