Introduction
Endoluminal airway stenting in children remains a controversial topic. Whilst airway stenting in adults is a well established practice with wide consensus, in pediatric patients it is still far from achieving this goal (1,2). Albeit increasing experience with endoscopic stenting in the pediatric age group, there is lack of agreement regarding indications, risks, and suitability of the different types of stents when addressing tracheobronchial obstruction (3). The small size of an infant“s airway and the limited availability of appropriate stents are determinant issues in this particular setting. In 2016 our group published a preliminary experience with a new biodegradable (BD) airway stent made of polydioxanone (PDO) (4). Persuaded by our initial good results, we continued using BD/PDO stents and even replacing other types, metallic or plastic, that we have used until then (5). Currently, PDO devices are our first choice when endoluminal stenting is considered an option.
The primary aim of this study was to update our experience with this type of BD stent focusing on clinical effectiveness and safety. Secondary goal was to analyse the factors that could be involved in the distinct outcomes observed.