Bronchoscopic holmium laser ablation continuous cryoablation for the treatment of airway stenosis caused by tissue hyperplasia after tracheal intubation: clinical case observation

This study aimed to design a standardised bronchoscopic holmium laser ablation continuous cryoablation for the treatment of airway stenosis caused by tissue hyperplasia after tracheal intubation and to retrospectively analyse its safety and feasibility. We collected the data of patients who had undergone bronchoscopic holmium laser ablation continuous cryoablation due to airway stenosis caused by tracheal mucosal tissue hyperplasia after tracheal intubation. The patients' baseline characteristics, ablation effects, surgical complications and other data were analysed. In total, 16 patients were enrolled in this study. On average, airway stenosis occurred 96.00 (interquartile range, 69.75-152.50) days after tracheal intubation and bronchoscopic holmium laser ablation continuous cryoablation took an average of 90.38 minutes (standard deviation: 16.78). After the first continuous cryoablation, 75.0% (12/16) of the patients had complete ablation of hyperplastic tissue, and 25.0% (4/16) had most of the hyperplastic tissue (>50%) removed. Altogether, 18.75% (3/16) and 6.25% (1/16) of the patients had complete ablation of hyperplastic tissue after the second and third cryoablation, respectively. Moreover, one patient (6.25%) had minimal wound bleeding postoperatively, and no other surgical complications occurred. No airway stenosis was found in all enrolled patients during follow-up 1 and 6 months after the last cryoablation. According to the above results of our small sample study indicated that bronchoscopic holmium laser ablation continuous cryoablation seems safe and effective for treating airway stenosis caused by tissue hyperplasia after tracheal intubation.