Endoscopic management of benign tracheobronchial tumors

Abstract

Even though benign tracheobronchial tumors are quite rare, they still can induce airway obstruction, result in suffocation, and need emergent management to remove the obstructing lesions and make the respiratory tracts unobstructed. Although the preferred therapy is surgery, it is still difficult to deal with the tumors in some cases, and the complications of surgery are common. Therefore, bronchoscopic managements, such as Nd: YAG laser, electrocautery, APC and Cryotherapy, are very important to treat benign tracheobronchial tumors and can cure most of them.The efficacy of therapeutic endoscopy for the treatment of patients with benign airways obstruction has been established. However, in order to maximally eradicate the benign tumors with minimal damage to patients, the success of bronchoscopic managements for the treatment strongly depends on the diligent identification of the various factors, including the location, size, shape of tumor, and the age, status, cardio respiratory function of patients, and full comprehension of the limits and potential of each particular technique.Because the advantages and disadvantages of above mentioned interventional methods, single method can not solve all clinical issues. Therefore, in order to remove benign tracheobronchial tumors completely, and reduce the incidence of recurrence as far as possible, many doctors combine several methods of them to treat complicated benign tracheobronchial tumors. This article reviews the core principles and techniques available to the bronchoscope managing benign tracheobronchial tumors.

Keywords: Benign tracheobronchial tumors; Nd: YAG laser, cryotherapy; argon plasma coagulation; bronchoscope; electrocautery.

Figure. 1. The applicability of rigid or flexible bronchoscope.