Dilation with rigid dilators as primary treatment of subglottic stenosis in pediatrics.

Abstract Introduction Acquired subglottic stenosis (SGS) occurs in 1–2% of children with a history of intubation. An alternative treatment is endoscopic dilation with rigid dilators. Material and methods Seventy-four patients with SGS grade I to III were treated between 2003 and 2017. Dilations were performed with Hegar-type rigid dilators every 2–3 weeks. Results Eighty-two percentage of patients responded to the treatment. 10% presented SGS grade I, 35% grade II and 55% grade III. Previous intubation time in successful cases was 12.4 days and it was 32 days in those that failed (p = 0.02). The average number of dilations was 3.23 in the group that responded and 2.98 for those that did not respond (p = 0.51). The presence of tracheostomy reduced the effectiveness of the treatment (p = 0.002). The average follow-up was 43.5 months. Conclusion The use of rigid dilators under endoscopic control is an effective minimally invasive method for treating patients with SGS grades I to III. Previous intubation time and the presence of tracheostomy were identified as poor prognostic factors.