Objective To evaluate the postoperative results of patients treated with and without the use of stents at the time of initial surgical treatment of choanal atresia (CA). Surgical treatment of CA in the neonatal period is complicated by postoperative stenosis, often necessitating multiple revision surgical procedures.
Design Retrospective medical record review.
Setting Tertiary care academic center.
Patients The medical records of 9 patients treated for bilateral CA during the neonatal period were reviewed. All patients were treated with an endoscopic approach. Outcomes were compared for patients with and without stent use at the initial operation.
Main Outcome Measures Medical records were analyzed for diagnostic modality, clinical symptoms, age at surgery, sex, surgical repair, placement of stents, reoccurrence of atresia, follow-up time, and postoperative outcomes.
Results The mean age at initial surgery was 8 days (range, 5-15 days). Four patients had endotracheal tube stents placed at the time of initial surgery for a duration of 4 to 6 weeks. All patients required at least 1 additional surgery (mean, 2.6 procedures), and 3 (75%) had restenosis during infancy. The mean follow-up time for this group was 7.5 months. Five patients did not have stents placed at the time of initial surgery. None of these patients required additional surgical procedures during infancy, and none developed restenosis. The follow-up time for this group was 2.5 months.
Conclusions This study suggests that the placement of stents for bilateral CA repair during the neonatal period results in a high rate of restenosis as well as the need for multiple subsequent procedures during infancy. The use of an endoscopic approach without stent placement appears to result in superior healing without the need for revision surgery.
