3.1 Patient demographics
Table 1 lists the demographic data of the enrolled patients. We
identified 288 eligible patients. Their median age at the time of
tracheostomy was 64 years (interquartile range, 48‒73 years), and there
was a male predominance (64%). The most common primary diseases were
cerebrovascular and neuromuscular diseases (26%). The primary reasons
for tracheostomy were long-term intubation (72%), upper-airway
narrowing (21%), and difficult intubation (6%). Among them, 39
patients (14%) underwent emergency ST. ST was performed under local
anesthesia in 57 patients (19%). ST under CAT was performed in 40
patients (14%).