[Airway stenting: State of the art]

In the overwhelming majority of cases, Airway stents offer relief of malignant or benign central airway obstruction. In some non-tumoral situations, they can be curative, providing a bridge to local or systemic treatments in the context of malignant obstruction. The efficacy and tolerance of these medical devices have dramatically improved over the past three decades with the development of silicone airway stents and, more recently, of third-generation, covered, self-expandable metallic stents with an increasingly widened panel of shapes. We review herein the main categories of airway stents with their specific indications, pitfalls, and advantages, not only in neoplastic situations, but also in the treatment of benign stenoses of the respiratory tract. The recent advances and perspectives in the field are also taken into consideration, particularly the development of biodegradable, drug-eluting, and patient-specific customized AS.