Awake tracheobronchial dilation without the use of rigid bronchoscopy

Benign tracheal strictures have been treated by repeated dilations using rigid bronchoscopy and general anesthesia. An alternative approach using conscious sedation, fluoroscopy, flexible bronchoscopy, and Savary-Gilliard esophageal dilators (Cook Endoscopy, Inc, Winston-Salem, NC) is reported. All patients undergoing dilation while awake had lesions due to inflammatory disease or lesions that were not amenable to resection. This method may be less traumatic than rigid bronchoscopy and can be accomplished on an outpatient basis without the use of general anesthesia.