Airway stenting in Japan

Various types of outstanding airway stents have been made commercially available. In Japan, a total of 1004 airway stents (Dumon stents (Novatech, Aubagne, France), Gianturco Z stents (Cook Ins, Bloomington, USA), Ultraflex stents (Boston Scientific Corp, Natick, MA, USA), and Dynamic Y stents (Ruesch AG, Kernen, Germany)) were implanted from July 1991 until February 1998. Of all the various stents, the Dumon stent has become the standard worldwide. Also, the Dumon stent has been replacing the Gianturco Z stent as the preferred stent throughout Japan. The Dumon stent was the first stent covered by Japanese National Health Insurance. Therefore, we present our 5-year experience with the Dumon stent at our institution. In our experience, stenting is effective for the immediate and lasting relief of symptoms in patients with severe malignant obstruction of major airways.