Dilatation for assisted ventilation-induced laryngotracheal stenosis

Objective. To assess the long-term results of dilatation and our experience with dilatation for assisted ventilation-induced laryngotracheal stenosis. Design: A retrospective study of 32 patients primarily treated with dilatation for assisted ventilation-induced laryngotracheal stenosis between 1977 and 2002. Setting. A tertiary care center and university teaching hospital. Patients: There were 19 men and 13 women aged 15 to 76 years. The stenosis was cicatricial with some inflammatory process in 27 patients and completely mature in 5 patients. The stenosis involved the cricoid and the trachea in four patients. In 28 patients, the stenosis involved only the trachea. Methods: Dilatation was performed with serially sized rigid bronchoscopes. Endoscopic laser vaporization was never performed in this series. Six patients were treated with only one dilatation. The 26 remaining patients were treated with successively 2 to 10 dilatations (mean, 3.3 dilatations). The dilatation success rate was analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier method. Results: Median duration of follow-up was 1.8 years. Mortality rate was 9.4%. The overall failure rate was 71.8%. Twenty patients presented with recurrent stenosis. The treatment of recurrent stenosis consisted of tracheal resection with end-to-end anastomosis (11 patients, 55%), cricotracheal anastomosis (5 patients, 25%), tracheal endoprosthesis (2 patients, 10%), and tracheotomy (1 patient, 5%). All patients who underwent tracheal or cricotracheal anastomosis were successfully treated. None of the variables under analysis (sex, age, medical history, cause for intubation, intubation type and duration, delay from initial injury, degree of stenosis, length of trachea involved, number of dilatations) were statistically related to the incidence of complications and the success rate of dilatations. Conclusions: We do not recommend dilatation technique as the sole treatment for assisted ventilation-induced laryngotracheal stenosis. This technique is helpful in case of emergency to restore an airway and useful for the assessment of stenosis.