Ultrasound for Assessment and Follow-up of Airway Stenosis

Ultrasound is a reliable tool for airway assessment and management. We evaluated the accuracy of ultrasound in the preprocedure planning and follow-up evaluation of patients undergoing airway stenting for benign upper airway stenosis.

This was a retrospective single center study on patients with benign upper airway stenosis treated with airway stenting. Ultrasound evaluated the characteristics of the stenosis (distance from vocal folds, diameter, and length) before treatment and any complications after treatment; these results were then statistically compared with those obtained by computed tomography, taking the endoscopy as the reference method.

Twenty-seven patients were evaluated. Ultrasound was significantly correlated with endoscopy and computed tomography scan measurements as distance of stenosis from vocal folds (r = 0.88; P < .001 and r = 0.87; P < .001, respectively), diameter of the stenosis (r = 0.97; P < .001 and r = 0.97; P < .001, respectively), and length of the stenosis (r = 0.97; P < .001 and r = 0.97; P < .001, respectively). Four out of 27 (15%) patients presented complications after treatment as stent migration (n = 2; 7%); stent obstruction (n = 1; 4%), and granulation of vocal fold (n = 1; 4%). All complications but granulation of vocal fold were correctly depicted by ultrasound and computed tomography without significant difference in comparison to endoscopy (P = .87) CONCLUSIONS: Ultrasound is a promising tool in assessment of airway stenosis and follow-up of patients after stenting; it may be routinely used in adjunction to computed tomography and/or endoscopy in this setting, if our results are corroborated by a future larger study.