Single wire-guided inverted Y-shaped tracheal stent implantation under general anesthesia for the treatment of complex tracheal diseases:initial experiences in 6 cases / 介入放射学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To discuss the technical points and the clinical application of single wire-guided inverted Y-shaped tracheal stent implantation under general anesthesia in treating complex tracheal diseases. Methods During the period from January 2014 to October 2014 at authors’ hospital, a total of 6 patients with complex tracheal diseases received inverted Y-shaped tracheal stent implantation. The diseases included trachea-pleural fistula(n=1), trachea-esophageal fistula(n=2) and complex tracheal stenosis(n=3). Under general anesthesia and guided by DSA, inverted Y-shaped tracheal stent implantation was carried out in all the 6 patients. The results were analyzed. Results A total of 6 Y-shaped tracheal stents were used in the 6 patients, and single wire-guided implantation technique was employed in all procedures. In one case , the right branch of the Y-shaped tracheal stent was placed in the right upper lobe bronchus by mistake , and in the remaining 5 cases the stent implantation was successfully accomplished with single manipulation. Conclusion Under general anesthesia, Y-shaped tracheal stent implantation can effectively obstruct the trachea-pleural fistula and left main bronchus-esophageal fistula, and it can also quickly and significantly relieve the complex airway stenosis located at the tracheal carina region. This treatment is safe and reliable with satisfactory short-term effect. Moreover, single wire-guided manipulation is technically simpler, easier and faster than dual wire-guided manipulation. Therefore, this technique should be recommended in the clinical practice.