Early vs late tracheostomy in critically ill patients: a systematic review and meta‐analysis

This study aims to compare the outcomes of early tracheostomy (ET) (≤10 days after translaryngeal intubation) with late tracheostomy (LT) (>10 days after translaryngeal intubation) in critically ill patients with prolonged mechanical ventilation (MV).We searched PubMed, EMBASE and the Cochrane Library from inception to April 2014. We included all randomized controlled trials (RCTs), which compared ET with LT in critically ill patients. There was...