Applying the CHEST Guidelines for Management of Central Airway Obstruction

Application of guidelines to the day-to-day clinical practice of clinicians is not always straightforward. Guidelines often provide a structure to the thought process demanded during clinical decision-making, which requires the application of evidence as best suited for each individual patient. These guidelines provide recommendations and suggestions, and the weight of these recommendations relies heavily on the quality of evidence and the vote of experts in the field, when evidence is lacking or insufficient. The following document elaborates on our approach to benign and malignant central airway obstruction, applying the principles of recently published central airway obstruction American College of Chest Physicians (CHEST) guidelines.