Compare the effect of noninvasive ventilation and tracheotomy in critically ill mechanically ventilated neurosurgical patients: a retrospective observe cohort study.

Compared with tracheotomy, use of NIV after extubation in critically ill mechanically ventilated neurosurgical patients may be associated with lower incidence of postoperative pulmonary infection, shorter duration of invasive mechanical ventilation and better improvement in brain function. Further studies need to verify the effect of NIV in this kind of patients.