Dr Thomas J.S. Lee, Department of Medicine & Geriatrics, Tuen Mun Hospital; published in the HKTS/ACCP (HK & Macau Chapter)/HKLF Joint Newsletter in 2008

Tracheostomy is one of the more common surgery performed on the critically ill patient and is traditionally performed by surgeons in the operating room. Percutaneous tracheostomy was developed shortly after Seldinger1 described a technique of needle replacement over a guide wire in arterial catheterization in 1953. Shelden et al2 gained airway access with a slotted needle that was used to guide a cutting trocar into the trachea. Subsequently several authors have also described various methods of percutaneous tracheostomy. The utility of percutaneous tracheostomy is that it can be performed at the bedside, especially in intensive care units.

Weblink to HK Respiratory Medicine here