Tracheal stenosis as a complication of prolonged intubation in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients: a Peruvian cohort

BACKGROUND: Tracheal stenosis (TS) is associated with prolonged intubation and inflammation due to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, longer times of mechanical ventilation have been required, and different tracheostomies beyond 10 to 12 days have been made. All of these have increased the number of cases and complexity of tracheal pathology in patients with severe COVID-19 infection. METHODS: A retrospective, chart review, from patients who were managed in the Service of Thoracic Surgery of Guillermo Almenara Irigoyen National Hospital, Lima, Peru, with a diagnosis of TS, tracheo-esophageal fistula and tracheomalacia between June 2020 until May 2021. RESULTS: Sixty-three patients were diagnosed with TS because of prolonged intubation due to COVID-19 infection. Mean hospitalization time in the intensive care unit (ICU) was 30 days. Mean mechanical ventilation time was 25 days. The most frequent anatomical localization of TS was upper and middle third (55.6%), upper third (44.4%). Fifty-three patients (84.1%) had TS between 1–4 cm, and ten patients (15.9%) had TS longer than 4 cm. Most patients with TS were classified with Cotton-Myer grade III (88.9%). CONCLUSIONS: We report a retrospective study of 63 patients with a diagnosis of TS, in whom corrective surgery was performed: cervical tracheoplasty, Montgomery T tube, or tracheostomy.