Perioperative management of patients undergoing tracheal resection and reconstruction: a retrospective observational study

Background: Perioperative management of Tracheal Resection and Reconstruction (TRR) presents many challenges to the physicians involved in airway management. Factors related to postoperative outcomes can be identified as early as the preoperative setting and can even be linked to demographic characteristics of patients affected by tracheal stenosis. The primary aim of this study is to describe the experience of patients undergoing TRR at our hospital from an anesthesiology perspective, describing as a second aim demography, preoperative conditions, and postoperative complications. Methods: This was a single institution retrospective review of patients who underwent TRR between 2009 and 2020. We did a post-hoc exploratory analysis to identify possible associations between perioperative complications and perioperative management. Results: Forty-three ASA I–IV adult patients aged 18–72 years who underwent TRR were included. Prolonged intubation (72%) is the primary cause of tracheal stenosis. Intraoperative management: intravenous induction and laryngeal masks are now the most frequently used for airway management, especially in subglottic stenosis. Perioperative complications were vocal cord paralysis (25.6%), postoperative ventilatory support (20.9%), and need for surgical reintervention (20.9%). One patient (2%) died in the postoperative period due to anastomotic complication. After resection, dexmedetomidine is the preferred choice (48.8%) for sedoanalgesia in the ICU. Conclusions: Perioperative management of TRR at our hospital has a low mortality and high morbidity rate. We did not find an association between perioperative anesthetic interventions and postoperative complications. Further studies are needed to evaluate which anesthetic interventions may be associated with better outcomes.