A new method of repairing extensive tubular tracheal defects. Experimental work

After a short review of several surgical methods used for the reconstruction of long tubular tracheal defects a new surgical method that was carried out on 36 dogs is described. Seven dogs were excluded from the experiment because of failure in the creation of the 'graft' consisting of heavy Marlex mesh and fascia lata, 'biologically' organized together during the first-stage operation. Twenty-nine dogs were subjected to the second-stage operation during which a tracheal defect, created after removing 5 to 11 cartilaginous tracheal rings, was bridged with the 'graft' taken from the site of implantation of heavy Marlex mesh and formed in a cylindrical fashion. The period and the rate of survival were both significant in many instances. The main characteristics were the relative lack of granulation tissue, usually developing at the lines of anastomoses in other series, and the appearance of new epithelium which, in a good number of cases, partially or almost completely covered the lumen of the new trachea.