Episode Details
Back to Episodes#440 - 🔵 [PAS 2026] - When Is the Right Time to Talk to a Family About a Tracheostomy for BPD?
Description
Dr. Kristen Leeman and Dr. Jonathan Levin join Ben to debrief a packed interactive session on tracheostomy timing and counseling for babies with severe bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). Using iterative cases and live audience polling, they mapped the wide variability in practice across the country — finding rough consensus that tracheostomy conversations become likely around 44 to 48 weeks post-menstrual age for intubated infants and 48 to 52 weeks for those on non-invasive ventilation, with key comorbidities like pulmonary hypertension, poor growth, and neurological injury shifting the calculus significantly. Families who participated in the session delivered a powerful message: the conversation should start early, be repeated often, and be framed not as a failure but as a transition — and continuity of care, having a familiar face who knows the baby and the family, made all the difference.
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Enjoy!