Developing an innovative interventional approach for stenting trachea.

Objectives: Stenting is a method of controlling airway occlusions (CAO) that can be used alone or in combination with other treatments. There are different types of airway stents. One of the most widely used types is silicone stent. These stents are flexible and firm enough cylinders inserted into the airway by a rigid scope to relieve dyspnoea caused by CAO in malignant and non-malignant diseases. We have developed a method that can be applied quickly in remote urgent cases without a rigid scope.

Design: We used two endotracheal tubes with a size of 8.5 for stenting.

Setting: This research was conducted at Pediatric Urology and Regenerative Medicine Research Center, Children's Medical Center, Pediatric Center of Excellence, Animal Lab Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran (IR).

Participants instead of patients or subjects: Two certified mature sheep (ewes).

Interventions: Silicone stent placement for 2 months.

Main outcome measures: A method with minimal facilities for stenting without limitation of trachea size.

Results: A pilot animal study has been performed on two mature certified sheep to test a stenting procedure. Stenting procedures have been successfully implemented on the animals' trachea.

Conclusions: We have developed a new simple, fast and cheap procedure for stenting silicon stents with minimum risk. We can easily place and rotate the stent during the procedure.