• Cecilia Menna, Silvia Fiorelli, Beatrice Trabalza Marinucci, Domenico Massullo, Antonio D'Andrilli, Anna Maria Ciccone, Claudio Andreetti, Giulio Maurizi, Camilla Vanni, Alessandra Siciliani, Matteo Tiracorrendo, Massimiliano Mancini, Federico Venuta, Erino Angelo Rendina, and Mohsen Ibrahim.
• Division of Thoracic Surgery, Sant'Andrea Hospital, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy. Electronic address: cecilia.menna@uniroma1.it.
• J. Thorac. Cardiovasc. Surg. 2024 Mar 30.

ObjectiveThe large number of patients with COVID-19 subjected to prolonged invasive mechanical ventilation has been expected to result in a significant increase in tracheal stenosis in the next years. The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare postoperative outcomes of patients who survived COVID-19 critical illness and underwent tracheal resection for postintubation/posttracheostomy tracheal stenosis with those of non-COVID-19 patients.MethodsIt was single-center, retrospective study. All consecutive patients with post-intubation/posttracheostomy tracheal stenosis who underwent tracheal resection from February 2020 to March 2022 were enrolled. A total of 147 tracheal resections were performed: 24 were in post-COVID-19 patients and 123 were in non-COVID-19 patients. A 1:1 propensity score matching analysis was performed, considering age, gender, body mass index, and length of stenosis. After matching, 2 groups of 24 patients each were identified: a post-COVID-19 group and a non-COVID group.ResultsNo mortality after surgery was registered. Posttracheostomy etiology of stenosis resulted more frequently in post-COVID-19 patients (n = 20 in the post-COVID-19 group vs n = 11 in the non-COVID-19 group; P = .03), as well as intensive care unit admissions during the postoperative period (16 vs 9 patients; P = .04). Need for postoperative reintubation for glottic edema and respiratory failure was higher in the post-COVID-19 group (7 vs 2 postoperative reintubation procedures; P = .04). Postoperative dysphonia was observed in 11 (46%) patients in the post-COVID-19 group versus 4 (16%) patients in the non-COVID-19 group (P = .03).ConclusionsTracheal resection continues to be safe and effective in COVID-19-related tracheal stenosis scenarios. Intensive care unit admission rates and postoperative complications seem to be higher in post-COVID-19 patients who underwent tracheal resection compared with non-COVID-19 patients.Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

3 keywords...

hide…