Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gxg78 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T20:32:47.835Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The shift in the indications for the tracheotomy between 1940 and 1955: an historical review

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 June 2007

K. Graamans ,
W. Pirsig  and
K. Biefel
K. Graamans*
Affiliation:
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University Hospital Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands
W. Pirsig
Affiliation:
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Universitäts H.N.O.-Klinik, Ulm, Germany
K. Biefel
Affiliation:
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Universitäts H.N.O.-Klinik, Ulm, Germany
*
Address for correspondence: K. Graamans, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University Hospital Utrecht, P.O. Box 85500, 3508 GA Utrecht, The Netherlands
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In the period between 1940 and 1955 the indications for tracheotomy were extended. For centuries tracheotomies were performed to treat obstructive diseases of the upper airway (hypopharynx, larynx, trachea). With the end of the second World War tracheotomy was indicated more and more for the therapy of lower airway disturbances.

Medical empiricism is thought to be responsible for the gradual shift in the indications during that period from upper to lower airway disturbances. Knowledge about the underlying principles of respiratory physiology was, however, already present at the end of the 19th century, but the shift in the indications did not occur until relatively recently. For many victims of World War II the discovery of the beneficial effect of a tracheotomy in a variety of traumatic disorders may have come too late.

Keywords

tracheotomyHistory of MedicineRespiratory system
Type
Historical Article
Information
The Journal of Laryngology & Otology , Volume 113 , Issue 7 , July 1999 , pp. 624 - 627
Copyright
Copyright © JLO (1984) Limited 1999

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aslett, E. A., D'Arcy Hart, P., McMichael, J. (1939) The lung volume and its subdivisions in normal males. Proceedings Royal Society Medicine 126: 502–528.Google Scholar
Biefel, K. (1983) Die Indikationen zur Tracheotomie: Eine medizingeschichtliche Studie. Dissertation, Ulm.Google Scholar
Biefel, K., Pirsig, W. (1988) Tracheotomien vor 1800. Gesnerus 45: 521–540.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Carter, B. N., Giuseffi, J. (1951) Tracheotomy: A useful procedure in thoracic surgery, with particular reference to its employment in crushing injuries of the chest. Journal of Thoracic Surgery 21: 495–505.Google Scholar
Despons, J. (1958) Indications et technique de la trachéostomie dans les syndromes respiratoires. Revue de Laryngologie Otologie Rhinologie (Bord.) 79: 1169–1222.Google Scholar
Engstrom, C. G. (1954) Treatment of severe cases of respiratory paralysis by the Engstrom universal respirator. British Medical Journal 2: 666.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Figi, F. A. (1934) tracheotomy: A study of 200 consecutive cases. Annals of Otology, Rhinology and Laryngology 43: 178–192.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Forbes, G. B., Salmon, G., Herweg, J. C. (1947) Further observations on post- tracheotomy, mediastinal emphysema and pneumothorax. Journal of Pediatrics 31: 172–194.Google Scholar
Frost, E. A. M. (1976) Tracing the tracheotomy. Annals of Otology, Rhinology and Laryngology 85: 618–624.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Galloway, T. C. (1943) tracheotomy in bulbar poliomyelitis. Journal of the American Medical Association 123: 1096–1098.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heyden, R. (1950) The respiratory function in laryngectomized patients. Acta Otolaryngologica (Stockh) [Suppl.] 85: 1–76.Google Scholar
Hueter, K. (1880) Tracheotomie und Laryngotomie. In Handbuch der allgemeinen und speziellen Chirurgie III/1 (von Pitha, F., Billroth, C. A. T., eds.) F. Enke, Stuttgart, pp 1–100.Google Scholar
Hurtado, A., Boller, C. (1933) Studies of total pulmonary capacity and its subdivisions: I. Normal, absolute and relative values. Journal of Clinical Investigation 12: 793–806.Google Scholar
Jackson, C., Jackson, C. L. (1936) Acute laryngotracheobronchitis, living pathologic conditions seen in acute respiratory diseases. Journal of the American Medical Association 107: 929–933.Google Scholar
Knipping, H. W. (1925) Beitrag zur Technik der Gasstoffwechseluntersuchung. Hoppe Seyler's Zeitschrift für Physiologische Chemie 145: 154–176.Google Scholar
Krogh, A., Lindhard, J. (1913–1914a) The volume of the ‘dead space’ in breathing. Journal of Physiology (Lond.) 47: 30–43.Google Scholar
Krogh, A., Lindhard, J. (1913–1914b) On the average composition of the alveolar air and its variations during the respiratory cycle. Journal of Physiology (Lond.) 47: 431–445.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lassen, H. C. A. (1953) A preliminary report on the 1952 epidemic of poliomyelitis in Copenhagen. Lancet 1: 37–41.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
von Leden, H. (1952) Newer indications for tracheotomy. Transactions of the American Academy of Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology 56: 52–61.Google Scholar
Loewy, A. (1894) Ueber die Bestimmung der Grösse des ‘schädlichen Luftraumes’ im Thorax und der alveolaren Sauerstoffspannung. Archiv für die gesamte Physiologie des Menschen und der Tiere 58, 416–427.Google Scholar
Oborin, N. A. (1964) Tracheotomieoperationen in der vaterländischen Chirurgie des 18. und der 1. Ha¨lfte des 19. Jahrhunderts. Vestnik Otorinolaryngologic 26: 80–84.Google Scholar
Prescott, W. H., Goldthwaite, J. E. (1891) A report of 392 cases of intubation and 139 cases of tracheotomy done at the Boston City Hospital. Boston Medical and Surgical Journal 125: 694–697.Google Scholar
Rohrer, F. (1915) Der Strömungswiderstand in den menschlichen Atemwegen und der Einfluss der unregelmässigen Verzweigung des Bronchialsystems auf den Atmungsverlauf in verschiedenen Lungenbezirken. Pflügers Archiv für die gesamte Physiologie 162: 225–229.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Snow, J. (1858) On chloroform and other anaesthetics: Their action and administration. J. Churchill, London.Google Scholar
Trendelenburg, F. (1873) Erfahrungen über die Tamponade der Trachea. Langenbeck's Archiv klinische für Chirurgie 15: 352–368.Google Scholar
Wilson, J. L. (1932) Acute anterior poliomyelitis: treatment of bulbar and high spinal types. New England Journal of Medicine 206: 887–893.Google Scholar