Timing of Silicone Stent Removal in Patients with Post-tuberculosis Bronchial Stenosis = Timing of Silicone Stent Removal in Patients with Post-tuberculosis Bronchial Stenosis

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Objectives: Traditionally, stent removal was recommended at 12-18 months after stent insertion in patients with post-tuberculosis bronchial stenosis (PTBS). From our 6-year experience, timing of stent removal in PTBS patients and its clinical impacts were analyzed. Methods: Total 43 PTBS patients who attempted elective stent removal between January 2004 and December 2009 were retrospectively reviewed. Period of stable state before stent removal (PSS) was defined as the interval from the last intervention before stent removal to the stent removal. For analysis, patients were grouped according to the interval from stent insertion to removal (ISR): early removal group as ISR ＜1 year and late removal group as ISR ≥1 year. Results: Forty-five additional interventions before stent removal were performed in 25 patients. Most of additional interventions (82.2%) were conducted within 6 months after previous intervention. Restenosis after stent removal occurred in 9 patients (20.9%) and all were developed within 4 months after stent removal. In subgroup analysis, late removal group had more frequent atelectasis on initial chest radiographs (p=0.019) and longer PSS (p＜0.001). Although there were several differences between two groups, restenosis rates after stent removal were not different (p=0.001). Conclusion: Interventional pulmonologists should consider atelectasis on initial chest radiographs and PSS before silicone stent removal in PTTS patients.