External fixation of subglottic tracheal stents

Bronchoscopically placed silicone stents are used increasingly for treating patients with tracheal stenosis due to benign or malignant airway disease. When stenosis occurs in the immediate subglottic region, however, complications of stent insertion, especially migration, are troublesome. The purpose of this report is to describe a technique of external fixation of subglottic stents that may be used when tracheotomy, Montgomery T-tubes, or other therapeutic measures are undesirable or have failed. This technique may also be considered in carefully selected patients with severe malacia and subglottic stenosis who have failed indwelling stent placement because of stent migration.