Decanulation

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=200 BGCOLOR="#FFCC80" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="1088e8e3.jpg"> <div> <IMG SRC="10995810.png" border=0 width="149" height="129" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id17.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="About Tracheostomy"><U><B>About Tracheostomy page</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="TSNI"><U><B>Home</B></U></A></div> </td> <td valign="top" BGCOLOR="#FF9900" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="10e00c82dwnjbj.jpg"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><B>TSNI</B></FONT> <FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#3366FF" FACE="Arial" > </FONT>   |     <FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#CC0000" FACE="Arial" ><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="TSNI"><U>home</U></A></FONT></div> <div> <A HREF="id18.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="About Us"><U>About Us</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id20.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Childrens Profiles"><U>Childrens Profiles</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id17.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="About Tracheostomy"><U>About Tracheostomy</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id57.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Subglottic Stenosis"><U>Subglottic Stenosis</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id59.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Passy Muir"><U>Passy Muir</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id60.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Safety Precautions"><U>Safety Precautions</U></A>   |   Decanulation   |   <A HREF="id50.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Going Home"><U>Going Home</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id58.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Help at home"><U>Help at home</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id49.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The First Week"><U>The First Week</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id51.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="EMERGENCY"><U>EMERGENCY</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id52.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Makaton"><U>Makaton</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id54.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Premi Page"><U>Premi Page</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id55.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="MRSA "><U>MRSA </U></A>   |   <A HREF="id61.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="QA"><U>Q&A</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id19.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Events"><U>Events</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id38.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="TSNI Forum"><U>TSNI Forum</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id25.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Live Chat"><U>Live Chat</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id47.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Useful Links Contacts"><U>Useful Links & Contacts</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id48.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Glossary"><U>Glossary</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id26.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Contact Us"><U>Contact Us</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id56.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Acknowledgements"><U>Acknowledgements</U></A></div> <div> Decanulation</div> <bR> <div> The eventual goal is to remove the tracheostomy tube from your child. This process is called decannulation. Most parents, while longing for the day when the tube can come out, <B>'HERE HERE'!!!</B> are still worried. Will their child be able to breathe without the tube? Will the hole (stoma) close? Parents and older children can talk to the ward child psychologist about these concerns.</div> <bR> <div> Removal of the tube can be done in a number of different ways and is closely supervised in hospital. Ward decannulation takes several days. A smaller tube is inserted as a routine tube change. This allows the stoma to begin the gradual process of closing. Once the smallest possible tube is used, it is blocked with a small bung for 24 hours. If the child has tolerated this, the tube is removed completely and the stoma covered with an airtight dressing.</div> <bR> <div> This process usually goes well, but sometimes the original tube needs to be replaced for a period until the consultant decides that decannulation can be tried again.</div> <div> Sometimes the stoma does not close on its own and the child has to be admitted at a later stage to have the hole closed under anaesthetic.</div> <bR> <div> Occasionally surgical decannulation under general anaesthetic, rather than ward decannulation, is recommended. In this case, once the tube has been removed and the stoma closed in the operating theatre, the child is taken to the intensive care unit and spends a short time with his or her breathing supported by a ventilator.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Important:</B> If you have been receiving Disability Living Allowance for your child, you should notify the DLA office that your child’s tracheostomy has been removed. You will probably be able to keep the allowance for a while until it is certain that your child is coping well, but once you are no longer having to supervise your child closely, the allowance will stop. If you have been receiving Invalid Care Allowance, that will also have to stop once DLA is removed.</div> <bR> <div> After your child’s tracheostomy is removed, the speech and language therapist will meet you to discuss the need for future therapy. Some children may have voice changes that need ongoing advice and others may need continued help with their speech and language development and/or their feeding. </div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>