Clinical efficacy of argon plasma coagulation combined with cryotherapy for central airway stenosis caused by lung cancer

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to study the clinical efficacy of argon plasma coagulation plus cryotherapy for central airway stenosis caused by lung cancer. METHODS: The clinical data of 177 patients with central airway stenosis caused by lung cancer received surgery from June, 2017 to July 2018 were retrospectively analyzed. According to different treatments, 43 patients received cryotherapy were included in the control group, while 134 patients received argon plasma coagulation plus cryotherapy were in the observation group. After propensity score matching, patients in the two groups were in a 1:1 ratio. The Karnofsky score, partial pressure of oxygen (PaO(2)), arterial oxygen saturation (SaO(2)), partial pressure of arterial carbon dioxide (PaCO(2)) and adverse reactions in patients were analyzed one week before and after treatment. Besides, the survival rates of the two groups were compared. RESULTS: After propensity score matching, the baseline data were not significantly different between the two groups. The post-treatment Karnofsky scores in the two groups were significantly higher than those of before treatment, and the post-treatment score of the observation group was higher than that of the control group (all P < 0.05). The post-treatment PaO(2) and SaO(2) in the observation group were both higher than those of the control group; while the PaCO(2) in the observation group was significantly lower than that of the control group (all P < 0.05). In the observation group, the levels of PaO(2) and SaO(2) were significantly higher, and the level of PaCO(2) was significantly lower after treatment than those of before treatment (all P < 0.05). The rates of completely effective and mild effective in the observation group were significantly higher than those in the control group (both P < 0.05). The incidences of bleeding, arrhythmia and fever in the observation group were significantly lower than those in the control group (all P < 0.05). The survival rate was significantly higher in the observation group (72.09%) than in the control group (51.16%). CONCLUSIONS: Argon plasma coagulation combined with cryotherapy can significantly alleviate the central airway stenosis caused by lung cancer, reduce the incidence of adverse reactions, and improve prognosis in patients.