Metallic expandable stents in the management of malignant tracheal stenosis due to esophageal cancer with lymph node metastasis

Esophageal cancer with post-operative lymph node metastasis (LNM) compressing and infiltrating the trachea causing dyspnea is considered a serious complication. However, chemotherapy or radiotherapy are often ineffective methods for such patients. Approaches employing metallic expandable stents to relieve airway obstruction are extremely effective in advanced-stage cancer patients. The present study reports the use of metallic expandable stents as a treatment for tracheal stenosis. A total of 11 patients with tracheal stenosis due to LNM compressing and infiltrating the trachea were selected between November 2009 and January 2013. All the patients were diagnosed by computed tomography and presented with varying degrees of dyspnea. A total of 13 stents were placed in 11 patients, without significant intraoperative complications. Post-operatively, all patients presented with significant improvement in respiratory function. The Borg score was determined 1 day after stent application. The mean score of dyspnea declined significantly from 7.0 to 0.9 (P<0.01), the mean heart rate decreased from 128 to 86 bpm (P<0.01), the mean respiratory rate decreased from 34 to 23 breaths/min (P<0.01) and the mean oxygen saturation increased from 85 to 97% (P<0.01). Complications included coughing, hemorrhage, chest pain, retention of secretions, halitosis and tumor regrowth. It may be concluded that metallic expandable stent placement is an effective strategy to palliate malignant tracheal stenosis.