Etiological Analysis of 'Post-Intubation Tracheal Stenosis' Cases Requiring Intervention: A 2-Year Case Evaluation

Objectives: The aim of this study was to retrospectively investigate the tracheal stenosis (TS) etiologies of patients with a diagnosis of TS after intubation who underwent rigid bronchoscopy balloon dilation/rigid bronchoscopy balloon dilatation+stent/tracheal resection and reconstruction at our clinic.
Methods: Medical records of all adult patients who underwent procedures for TS between March 1, 2020, and April 30, 2022, at our clinic were retrospectively reviewed. Age, gender, previous ASA score, comorbidities, etiology of TS, type of surgery performed, length of hospital stay after the surgical procedure, morbidity, and mortality data were recorded.
Results: It was determined that interventions were performed on a total of 101 patients due to post-intubation TS. Among these patients, it was observed that 37 (36.6%) had experienced intubation due to coronavirus, 19 (18.8%) due to neurological diseases, and 14 (13.9%) due to multiple traumas. Of the patients, 57 (56.43%) were male and 44 (43.57%) were female. The most common accompanying comorbidities were hypertension (25.7%) and diabetes (21.7%). The mean age was 50.3±17.2 years, and the mean duration of intubation was 25.4±17.8 days. Rigid bronchoscopy balloon dilatation was performed a median of 2 times per patient. Rigid bronchoscopy balloon dilatation+stent was performed in four patients, and tracheal resection and reconstruction was performed in 58 patients.
Conclusion: In the cross-sectional evaluation of the patients, it was determined that the most common cause of TS developing after intubation was coronavirus.