5. CONCLUSIONS
Children with tracheostomies are at high risk of respiratory tract infections and are routinely treated with broad spectrum antimicrobials. Most evidence for antimicrobial use for these patients comes from retrospective cohort studies; there is no randomised controlled trial evidence to date. The studies included in our review highlight the significant variation in antimicrobial usage between centres, including antimicrobial selection, duration, and administration route. There is an urgent need for future research to help rationalise antibiotic usage for this vulnerable patient cohort.