WEANING-Study: "Weaning by Early Versus lAte Tracheostomy iN supratentorIal iNtracerebral Bleedings

Background: One third of all ICH patients require intubation and mechanical ventilation and 1/3 of all ventilated patients require tracheostomy (i.e.≈10% of all ICH patients require tracheostomy). As shown previously, predisposing factors for tracheostomy are hematoma volume, hemorrhage location, presence of intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH), and occlusive hydrocephalus as well as presence of COPD (Huttner HB et al 2006 CVD). Sustained restricted vigilance and impaired consciousness after ICH is likely to result in failure of extubation, raise in incidence of ventilator-associated pneumonia, increased amount of sedative drugs and prolonged duration of neurocritical care. Hence an early tracheostomy may be beneficial in terms of reduced duration of mechanical ventilation. Basic hypothesis: Compared to patients with conventional ("late") tracheostomy between day 12 - 14, patients with "early" tracheostomy within 72h after admission will have: * shorter cumulative time of mechanical ventilation * less incidence of ventilator-associated pneumonia * less consumption of sedative drugs * shorter duration of stay in neurocritical care unit Randomization: Consecutive eligible patients are randomly assigned to Either "early" tracheostomy within 72h after hospital admission Or "late" tracheostomy (= control group; undergoing conventional tracheostomy between day 12 - 14 if extubation fails) Both groups receive plastic tracheostomy