Groningen Dilatation Tracheoscope in Treatment of Moderate Subglottic and Tracheal Stenosis

Objectives: We describe our experience with the Groningen Dilatation Tracheoscope (Karl Storz GmbH & Co, Tuttlingen, Germany) in treating benign subglottic and tracheal stenosis. Methods: We performed a retrospective survey from a medical record analysis of 26 patients with different origins of benign, grade II (Myer-Cotton) subglottic or tracheal stenosis. All patients underwent dilatation tracheoscopy for a total of 64 times (average, 2.46 operations per patient). Five patients had to undergo subsequent operations. Patient data (sex, age at intervention, underlying and other systemic diseases) and operation data (course, intraoperative and postoperative adverse events) were recorded. Analysis of the measured preoperative and postoperative peak flow values was performed. Results: The average predilatation and postdilatation peak flow values were 225 L/min and 331 L/min, respectively. Eighty percent of the patients (21 of 26) were successfully treated with 1 or more dilatation tracheoscopy interventions without supplementary treatment for the stenosis. There is only 1 tracheal cannula-dependent patient in the examined Population, making the overall success rate of our treatment 96%. No major intraoperative or postoperative complications were recorded. Conclusions: Dilatation tracheoscopy is a simple, relatively safe, and effective method in the treatment of benign subglottic or tracheal stenosis of various origins. The intervention is minimally invasive and is easily repeatable in case of restenosis.