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The following is a summary of “Palliative endoscopic treatment of malignant central airway obstruction,” published in the December 2024 issue of Pulmonology by Bøgh et al.
Researchers conducted a retrospective study to analyze the outcome of palliative endoscopic treatment for malignant central airway obstruction (CAO) and determine predictors for Days Alive and Out of Hospital (DAOH), overall survival, and treatment-related complications.
They included adult patients treated endoscopically for malignant CAO at Aarhus University Hospital from 2012 to 2022. Statistical analyses were conducted to identify predictors for DAOH, survival, and complications.
The results showed that 127 consecutive patients were included, primarily males with stage IV lung cancer and a median age of 67 years. Endoscopic interventions consisted mainly of tumor debulking with or without airway stent insertion. The complication rate was 21.0%, and mortality was 3.9%. Symptom relief occurred in 89.8% of patients, with 92.1% discharged within 2 days. Mean survival post-intervention was 144 days, mean DAOH 30 was 20.8, and mean DAOH365 was 157. Survival was linked to comorbidity, intervention type, preoperative respiratory support, and postoperative oncologic treatment. Predictors for poorer DAOH included high preoperative ASA-score, preoperative respiratory support, urgency, female gender, and airway stent insertion.
Investigators concluded the endoscopic palliative treatment for malignant CAO was generally feasible and safe, providing effective symptom relief in most cases and offering an effective measure for short- to medium-term palliation of respiratory distress.
Source: bmcpulmmed.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12890-024-03432-9
