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External Fixation of Proximal Tracheal Airway Stents: A Modified Technique

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.athoracsur.2012.01.094Get rights and content

Treatment of subglottic and proximal tracheal stenosis for nonsurgical candidates includes tracheostomy, Montgomery T tubes, and silicone stents. When used in lesions with concomitant malacia, silicone stents have a high incidence of migration. We describe a simple and effective technique of securing endoluminal stents using an Endo Close suturing device (Coviden, Boston, MA) and an external silicone button in 9 consecutive patients.

Section snippets

Technique

After Institutional Review Board approval at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, we conducted a retrospective review of medical records of patients undergoing rigid bronchoscopy and stent placement with external fixation from February 2007 to August 2010. Records were reviewed, and age, sex, comorbidities, presenting symptoms, indications, characteristics of airway lesion (location, length, type), type of stent used, signs and symptoms after the intervention, complications, and time to

Comment

We describe a simple and effective technique of securing endoluminal stents deployed in the proximal trachea and report the results in 9 consecutive patients. We also describe a low incidence of reversible complications. Our cohort included patients with multiple cardiovascular, pulmonary, and systemic comorbidities that precluded them from undergoing a surgical intervention.

Silicone stents are an attractive therapeutic option because they preserve laryngeal function and do not require the

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