In a cohort of patients in whom airway pressures and tidal volume are limited, barotrauma is more likely in patients ventilated due to underlying lung disease (acute or chronic). Barotrauma was also associated with a significant increase in the ICU length of stay and mortality.

Tracheostomy is a common surgical procedure in the intensive care unit that is associated with a lower mortality in the unit but with a longer stay and a similar mortality in the hospital than in patients without tracheostomy.