• Hye Yun Park, Hojoong Kim, Won-Jung Koh, Gee Young Suh, Man Pyo Chung, and O Jung Kwon.
• Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
• Respirology. 2009 May 1;14(4):583-8.

Background And ObjectiveThe treatment choice for post-intubation tracheal stenosis (PITS) in patients for whom surgery is not initially feasible is bronchoscopic silicone stenting. A new silicone stent, called the Natural stent (N stent), was investigated for its clinical efficacy and safety in patients with PITS.MethodsA retrospective review was conducted of 32 patients with PITS who underwent N stenting between November 2001 and December 2006 and were followed for at least 12 months.ResultsAirway dilatation with combined modalities such as Nd:YAG laser, ballooning or bougienage was followed by N stent insertion. After intervention, all patients had symptomatic and spirometric improvement without immediate complications. Removal of the stent without re-stenosis was successful in 38% of the patients at a median time of 7 months after insertion. The stent could not be removed or needed reinsertion in 31% of patients, and 16% of patients underwent surgery after initial stabilization by stenting. Late complications were stent migration (34%), mucostasis (31%), granulation tissue formation (38%) and re-stenosis (40%). All patients tolerated the management of complications during a median follow up of 22 months.ConclusionsBronchoscopic N stenting is an effective treatment for patients with PITS in whom surgery is not feasible on initial presentation. Further stent development is necessary to reduce the late complication rate.

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