Use of expandable wire stents for malignant airway obstruction

• Published in: The Annals of thoracic surgery Vol. 57; no. 6; pp. 1573 - 1577
• Main Authors: Souza, Anthony C.de, Keal, Richard, Hudson, Norah M., Leverment, Joseph N., Spyt, Thomas J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier Inc 01.06.1994
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Airway Obstruction - etiology; Airway Obstruction - therapy; Bronchial Diseases - etiology; Bronchial Diseases - therapy; Bronchial Neoplasms - complications; Bronchoscopy; Constriction, Pathologic - etiology; Constriction, Pathologic - therapy; Dyspnea - etiology; Dyspnea - therapy; Equipment Design; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Palliative Care; Respiratory Sounds - etiology; Stainless Steel; Stents; Survival Rate; Tracheal Stenosis - etiology; Tracheal Stenosis - therapy
• ISSN: 0003-4975; 1552-6259
• DOI: 10.1016/0003-4975(94)90125-2

The symptoms of progressive dyspnea and stridor in the setting of malignant airway obstruction are severe and distressing. Conservative nebulizer and oxygen therapy offer little relief, and conventional stenting with T tubes requires a tracheostomy. In this article, we describe our experience with stenting in the treatment of malignant mediastinal disease using the Glanturco expanding metal-wire stents. The technique of placement is simple and the procedure was successful in all 21 cases. Relief of stridor was immediate and the dyspnea usually abated. These benefits continued through the mean survival period after stenting of 134 days (range, 2 to 799 days). The patients required only brief hospitalization (2.83 days) before returning home or to the referring institution. It appears that expandable wire stents may offer a simple yet effective intervention in the palliative treatment of mediastinal malignancy.