A tracheostomy is sometimes needed if you're unable to breathe normally because of an underlying health condition or a blocked airway.

A tracheostomy can deliver oxygen to the lungs if you cannot breathe normally. This is known as respiratory failure.

Conditions that can lead to respiratory failure and the need for a tracheostomy include:

• being unconscious or in a coma as a result of a severe head injury or stroke
• an inability to move 1 or more muscles (paralysis) after a serious spinal cord injury
• a condition that damages the lungs, such as pneumonia or cystic fibrosis
• a condition that damages the nervous system, such as motor neurone disease or Guillain-Barré syndrome

Sometimes, a tube attached to an artificial breathing machine (ventilator) is inserted into the mouth and down the throat.

But this can be uncomfortable, so a tracheostomy may be carried out if you need help breathing for more than a few days.

A tracheostomy can also be used to bypass an airway that's blocked as a result of:

• accidentally swallowing something that gets stuck in the windpipe (trachea)
• an injury, infection, burn or severe allergic reaction (anaphylaxis) that causes the throat to become swollen and narrowed
• swelling after head or neck surgery
• a cancerous tumour – this can sometimes happen with mouth cancer, laryngeal cancer or thyroid cancer

In addition, some children born with birth defects that cause their airways to be abnormally narrow may need a tracheostomy to help them breathe.

A tracheostomy may be carried out to remove fluid that's built up in the airways.

This may be needed if:

• you're unable to cough properly because of long-term pain, muscle weakness or paralysis
• you have a serious lung infection, such as pneumonia, that's caused your lungs to become clogged with fluid
• your airways or lungs have filled with blood as a result of an injury