Is this granulation tissue (pic included)

[ashliemh]

I have no idea what it's suppose to look like. Everything I see on the internet is a red looking color and this is white. It started after we got home and we were using peroxide to clean it. I stopped the peroxide last week and was hoping the white would go away, but it has grown! I don't know what it is.

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c328/hicksrere/trach.jpg

[LKN]

Yes, it's a granuloma. Leave it alone--just do regular trach care with sterile water. Some people just grow them more than others. It is only of concern if it prevents the trach from staying in place or if it prevents the trach from going in when you do a trach change.

My son grew them all the time. Some doctors want you to use silver nitrate sticks to burn them off. Ours left them alone. As big as they grew on my son, the doctor never removed any. There is some thought that if you mess with them they will just come back.

If you are really concerned you can always email your ENT and ask what he or she thinks. It's not worth a trip to the doctor unless its affecting his breathing.

[kshell]

Yes that looks like a granuloma. Natalie had one at one point similar, early in our trach experience. We used ciprodex drops ( antibiotic plus steroid) on the outside. It worked to shrink it early on. It didn't go totally away, but stayed very small.

[Sweet Harrison's mommy]

Yes, definitely granuloma. My son has had 2 in his 13 months of having a trach. We did have them taken off with a silver nitrate stick (super simple...we could have done it at home), and they stayed away. I think if it keeps growing, you should visit the idea of having it removed. If it stays small, there is no harm, but sometimes they keep growing and can increase the risk of infection to the stoma site.

Another thing that works wonders for Harrison is "Ciprodex" ear drops. Our ENT calls them the "miracle drug" for trachs:) If Harrison's stoma starts looking funny or smelling funny, we drop a couple of drops directly on the stoma site for a couple of days, and everything is good again. since doing this, we haven't had any issues with granulation tissue or infected stoma sites.

[Sweet Harrison's mommy]

ha! Just saw Karen's post from above:) I think every trached kiddo should have some ciprodex drops lying around!

[lauryns mum]

We never had any granulation tissue arount the trach, but did has several around the G tube site. We treated with silver nitrate sticks a number of times in surgergy clinic, then got sent home with some to do our own care. Magically, they haven't returned since, but i'm prepared with some sticks at home just in case!

[Ainsley's Mom]

Yes, definitely granuloma. My son has had 2 in his 13 months of having a trach. We did have them taken off with a silver nitrate stick (super simple...we could have done it at home), and they stayed away. I think if it keeps growing, you should visit the idea of having it removed. If it stays small, there is no harm, but sometimes they keep growing and can increase the risk of infection to the stoma site.

Another thing that works wonders for Harrison is "Ciprodex" ear drops. Our ENT calls them the "miracle drug" for trachs:) If Harrison's stoma starts looking funny or smelling funny, we drop a couple of drops directly on the stoma site for a couple of days, and everything is good again. since doing this, we haven't had any issues with granulation tissue or infected stoma sites.

Yes, and one of the ENT's once had us put them into the trach too.

Ashleigmh try to keep that clean and dry. Do you have any dressings like Exu-dry that you can use to form a barrier between the neck and trach until it starts to heal? That might help. Ainsley once had granulation tissue at the stoma like that but it was bad enough that we had it burned off with silver nitrate at the ER (by the ENT). In fact that might have been the same time we were given the Ciprodex ear drops. I hope it goes away on it's own soon.

[ashliemh]

Thanks guys! We have a follow up appointment with the ent on Tuesday so I'll make sure he gets a good look at it. The only thing that concerns me was it grew so fast.

You guys are amazing by the way. I love this message board and the fact that all of you have been where I am.

[Ainsley's Mom]

Thanks guys! We have a follow up appointment with the ent on Tuesday so I'll make sure he gets a good look at it. The only thing that concerns me was it grew so fast.

You guys are amazing by the way. I love this message board and the fact that all of you have been where I am.

That's good that you were able to get an appointment. Our ENT office is so busy that they don't have any appointment availablity so for things like that they send us to the ER. :rolleyes:

[kadiera]

Yup.

The one other caution I'd give is to look at how quickly it's growing. If it's growing super fast, something's wrong somewhere - tubing is pulling, or you've changed something, or something is irritating the stoma.

Alexander had a ring like that all the way around his g-tube right up until it was removed, because of a 2 month bit of drama when his button suddenly needed to be resized. Once we got the right button in again, it was fine, and never got any worse or caused any issues.

Bethany developed about twice that much in a 10 day period....all because the hospital switched what type of trach she had. We had to have it burned off with silver nitrate (and then discovered that she's allergic to bacitracin), and switching the trach back to her original brand has meant no more granulation.