Pediatric airway reconstruction: results after implementation of an airway team in Brazil

Since development of pediatric intensive care units, children have increasingly and appropriately been treated for complex surgical conditions such as laryngotracheal stenosis. Building coordinated airway teams to achieve acceptable results is still a challenge.

To describe patient demographics and surgical outcomes during the first 8years of a pediatric airway reconstruction team.

Retrospective chart review of children submitted to open airway reconstruction in a tertiary university healthcare facility during the first eight years of an airway team formation.

In the past 8 years 43 children underwent 52 open airway reconstructions. The median age at surgery was 4.1 years of age. Over half of the children (55.8%) had at least one comorbidity and over 80% presented Grade III and Grade IV subglottic stenosis. Other airway anomalies occurred in 34.8% of the cases. Surgeries performed were: partial and extended cricotracheal resections in 50% and laryngotracheoplasty with anterior and/or posterior grafts in 50%. Postoperative dilatation was needed in 34.15% of the patients. Total decannulation rate in this population during the 8-year period was 86% with 72% being decannulated after the first procedure. Average follow-up was 13.6 months. Initial grade of stenosis was predictive of success for the first surgery (p=0.0085), 7 children were submitted to salvage surgeries. Children with comorbidities had 2.5 greater odds (95% CI 1.2-4.9, p=0.0067) of unsuccessful surgery. Age at first surgery and presence of other airway anomalies were not significantly associated with success.

The overall success rate was 86%. Failures were associated with higher grades of stenosis and presence of comorbidities, but not with patient age or concomitant airway anomalies.