Surgical management of congenital tracheal stenosis

Congenital tracheal stenosis (CTS) is a rare but life-threatening disorder, particularly in neonates and infants. The stenotic lesions are commonly composed of complete rings of cartilage varying in length, location, and severity. A definitive diagnosis of CTS may be delayed because of the rarity of this disorder and thus its unfamiliarity among physicians, its variable onset time, its various clinical symptoms, and the diversity of associated clinical conditions due to the cardiovascular disorders that may accompany it. More than half of the patients who manifest clinical symptoms during early infancy show a long-segment stenosis. Long-segment CTS is problematic and challenging to manage. Over the last two decades several surgical techniques for long-segment CTS have been devised and developed, but no definitively advantageous surgical procedure has been established because of insufficient experience and the lack of large-scale studies. Although rib cartilage tracheoplasty and pericardial patch tracheoplasty have provided limited early to midterm success for infants with long-segment CTS, these procedures are associated with early and late complications, including granulation tissue formation, patch collapse, and restenosis necessitating reintervention. By contrast, slide tracheoplasty has given rise to better surgical outcomes. This procedure enables reconstruction of the stenotic trachea using native tracheal walls with preserved blood supply. The trachea is foreshortened by only one-half of the original stenosis, resulting in reduced tension on the anastomosis. Consequently, the technique has several advantages, including less formation of granulation tissue, satisfactory subsequent growth, and infrequent reoperation for restenosis. Slide tracheoplasty is currently recognized as the preferred technique for long-segment CTS.