Successful repair of tubercular tracheal stenosis: a rare case report

We report a rare case of successful surgical management of tubercular tracheal stenosis. There was no history of tracheostomy except for trauma management.

A 24-year-old man presented with breathing difficulty. He had previously sustained blunt chest injury, a fractured mandible and minor head injury in a traffic accident. Despite successful mandibular fracture fixation, he subsequently developed progressive breathing difficulty with stridor. The patient was treated successfully with surgical resection and bronchoplastic reconstruction. Post-operatively, endotracheal tuberculosis was diagnosed.

Endotracheal tuberculosis is rare despite the high incidence of pulmonary tuberculosis in India. Early diagnosis and prompt treatment are necessary to prevent tuberculous tracheobronchial stenosis, an extremely rare but serious clinical problem which can cause obstructive pneumonia and exertional dyspnoea. Surgical resection and bronchoplastic reconstruction is the established treatment for such stenosis. Patients with active tuberculosis usually respond to conventional antitubercular treatment.