Postintubation tracheal stenosis

Abstract

Postintubation tracheal stenosis (PITS) is an iatrogenic complication seen increasingly often as the number of intensive care unit (ICU) bed multiply, the indications for endotracheal intubation expand and disease awareness rises. PITS has a clinical severity spectrum ranging from asymptomatic cases to patients requiring urgent interventional procedures. It should therefore always be considered in the differential diagnosis in patients with a history of intubation who present with the complaint of difficult breathing. The golden standart for diagnosis is fiberoptic/rigid bronchoscopy. Even though tracheal resection and end-to-end anastomosis (TRA) is the preferred traetment, in some selected cases and in the patients who are not candidates for surgery, bronchoscopic interventions can be life saving, temporizing until surgery is possible and even be curative.