Clinical Outcomes After Tracheobronchoplasty With Ringed Polytetrafluoroethylene Vascular Graft

This report describes the surgical technique and outcomes of tracheobronchoplasty (TBP) with ringed polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) vascular graft.

We identified all patients who underwent PTFE-TBP for severe expiratory central airway collapse from January 1, 2018 to August 2021 at Mayo Clinic, Florida. Preoperative and postoperative St George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ), Cough-Specific Quality of Life Questionnaire (CSQLQ), pulmonary function testing, 6-minute walk test, and blinded dynamic bronchoscopy videos at 3-month follow-up were used to assess outcomes.

Fourteen patients (median age, 62.5 years; 64.3% female) underwent PTFE-TBP. The median operative time was 355 minutes, median hospital length of stay was 5 days, and median intensive care unit stay was 1 day. One patient had a Clavien-Dindo grade ≥3 complication. Comparison of preoperative and postoperative questionnaire scores demonstrated improvement in median SGRQ score by 14.79 (P = .013) and CSQLQ score by 22 (P = .005). Preoperative and postoperative pulmonary function and 6-minute walk test results showed no significant difference. Postoperative bronchoscopy demonstrated improvement in median collapsibility of mid trachea by 39.6% (P < .001), distal trachea by 50% (P < .001), left main bronchus by 38.2% (P < .001), right main bronchus by 37.9% (P < .001), and bronchus intermedius by 30.7% (P < .001).

PTFE-TBP provides significant improvement in patients' symptoms and expiratory central airway collapse as judged by preoperative and postoperative quality of life questionnaires and bronchoscopy.