[Surgery of the structural lesions of the respiratory tract]

22 clinical files of patients treated in our institution since 1983 for structural lesion of the airway are reviewed. 3 cases presented congenital tracheal stenosis, 15 congenital or acquired subglottic stenosis, 1 severe tracheomalacia, 1 subglottic membrane, 1 congenital subglottic cyst and 1 subglottic granuloma. A conservative or surgical approach (endoscopic, anterior cricoid split, Fearon's laryngotracheoplasty, modified Rethi's procedure, Kimura's tracheoplasty and aortopex) was used. Good results were obtained in 55.5 percent of the conservative cases, 100 percent of the endoscopic procedures, 50 percent of the splits and 75 percent of the laryngotracheoplasties. The Kimura and aortopexy procedures gave also good results. 4 patients are waiting for surgery: 1 anterior laryngotracheoplasty for iatrogenic failure, 2 conservative cases for persistence of the symptoms and 1 congenitaltracheal stenosis. A case of difuse congenital tracheal stenosis died before surgery. There are no significant differences in the complication rates of the surgical and conservative groups, but mean hospital stay was shorter in the former (p < 0.05).