{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,29]],"date-time":"2026-07-29T11:03:29Z","timestamp":1785323009611,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":17,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"8","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,29]],"date-time":"2026-07-29T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1785283200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Life"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: Obesity and diabetes mellitus (DM) are established risk factors for impaired wound healing, but their associations with early postoperative complications following surgical tracheostomy in critically ill patients remain insufficiently characterized. This study evaluated the associations of obesity and DM with clinically documented early peristomal wound infection following bedside surgical tracheostomy using either the Visor or Bj\u00f6rk technique. Methods: This retrospective single-centre cohort study included 92 ICU patients who underwent bedside surgical tracheostomy between 2022 and 2023. Postoperative complications were retrospectively assessed from clinical documentation at postoperative days 5\u20137 and 10\u201314. Documentation at days 5\u20137 was available for all 92 patients, whereas documentation at days 10\u201314 was available for 78 patients. The analyses therefore evaluated complications documented during the available postoperative follow-up period of up to 14 days rather than complete 14-day cumulative incidence. Associations of obesity and DM with clinically documented peristomal wound infection were assessed using exploratory univariable analyses. Results: Clinically documented peristomal wound infection occurred in 18 of 92 patients (19.6%) during the available postoperative follow-up period. Infection was documented in 10 of 28 patients with obesity (35.7%) compared with 8 of 64 patients without obesity (12.5%; crude OR 3.89, 95% CI 1.33\u201311.35; Fisher\u2019s exact p = 0.020). Infection was also more frequent in patients with DM (12\/31, 38.7%) than in those without DM (6\/61, 9.8%; crude OR 5.79, 95% CI 1.91\u201317.57; Fisher\u2019s exact p = 0.002). Postoperative haemorrhage was numerically more frequent in patients with obesity (14.3% vs. 6.3%), but this association was not statistically significant (crude OR 2.50, 95% CI 0.58\u201310.78; Fisher\u2019s exact p = 0.242). Conclusions: Obesity and DM were associated with higher crude odds of clinically documented early peristomal wound infection following bedside surgical tracheostomy. Given the exploratory, unadjusted analyses and incomplete follow-up through days 10\u201314, these findings should be considered hypothesis-generating and require confirmation in larger prospective cohorts.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/life16081251","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,29]],"date-time":"2026-07-29T10:13:47Z","timestamp":1785320027000},"page":"1251","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Association of Diabetes Mellitus and Obesity with Early Complications After Surgical Tracheostomy in Critically Ill ICU Patients: A Retrospective Observational Cohort Study"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"16","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9319-8260","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Lukas S.","family":"Fiedler","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"ENT and Head and Neck Surgery, Plastic Operations, SLK Kliniken Heilbronn, 74078 Heilbronn, Germany"},{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, Medical University of Heidelberg, 74078 Heidelberg, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Tobias","family":"Meyer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"ENT and Head and Neck Surgery, Klinikum Mutterhaus der Borrom\u00e4erinnen Trier, 54290 Trier, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0003-1353-5688","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Fabian","family":"Burk","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Plastic Surgery, Klinikum Stuttgart, 70174 Stuttgart, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0000-6666-270X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Fynn","family":"Roters","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, 20251 Hamburg, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,29]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","first-page":"Doc05","article-title":"Tracheostomy cannulas and voice prosthesis","volume":"8","author":"Kramp","year":"2009","journal-title":"GMS Curr. 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Pract."},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2925","DOI":"10.1002\/hed.27504","article-title":"Incidence and risk factors of surgical site infection in patients with head and neck cancer: A meta-analysis","volume":"45","author":"Wang","year":"2023","journal-title":"Head Neck"},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2746","DOI":"10.1002\/lary.26668","article-title":"Complications and 30-day hospital readmission rates of patients undergoing tracheostomy: A prospective analysis","volume":"127","author":"Spataro","year":"2017","journal-title":"Laryngoscope"}],"container-title":["Life"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2075-1729\/16\/8\/1251\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,29]],"date-time":"2026-07-29T10:29:29Z","timestamp":1785320969000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2075-1729\/16\/8\/1251"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,29]]},"references-count":17,"journal-issue":{"issue":"8","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8]]}},"alternative-id":["life16081251"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/life16081251","relation":{},"ISSN":["2075-1729"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2075-1729","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,29]]}}}