Gabrielle Giffords, the Arizona congresswoman who was seriously injured in last week's shooting in Tucson, no longer needs a ventilator after doctors replaced her breathing tube with a different one. Hospital officials said Giffords underwent a procedure this morning to have a tracheotomy tube inserted in her windpipe to protect her airways, freeing her from the ventilator. She had been breathing on her own since she was shot, but doctors had left the tube in as a precaution.
Doctors also inserted a feeding tube to provide nutrition. These procedures are not out of the ordinary for patients with brain injuries.
Jared Lee Loughner, 22, was last week given two charges of murder and three of attempted murder related to federal employees. Giffords, who was wounded in the attack which left six dead and 14 wounded, remains in a critical condition.
Her husband, astronaut Mark Kelly, has remained by her bedside.
