Advanced Airway Procedures

Overview

• Thermal Ablative Therapy: This therapy is used for removing or debulking the tumours that are blocking the main airways and causing bleeding or difficulty in breathing. Electrocautery, argon plasma coagulation (APC), laser therapy and cryotherapy are the various modalities that enable us to achieve this.
• Airway dilatation/Balloon bronchoplasty: A surgeon inserts a deflated balloon into a section of abnormally narrowed airway. By inflating the balloon with water, the airway is expanded, potentially relieving the symptoms. Balloon bronchoplasty may be performed prior to airway stent placement to help expand the bronchus.
• Airway stenting (bronchial stent): Advanced cancer or certain other conditions like tuberculosis can constrict or compress an airway tube (bronchus). When the bronchus becomes blocked, it causes difficulty in breathing, cough and pneumonia. Using a bronchoscope, a surgeon can insert a wire-mesh stent into a narrowed airway. Expanding the stent can open a bronchus and relieve symptoms caused by the constriction.