Surgery of tumours in the thoracic portion of the trachea

We have operated on nine patients suffering from benign or malignant tumours in the thoracic portion of the trachea. The main clinical symptom was difficulty in breathing, accompanied in the majority of cases by attacks of asphyxia, cough with mucous phlegm, and haemoptysis. The following operations were performed: circular resection of the trachea with end-to-end anastomosis, thoracic tracheotomy with enucleation of the tumour, fenestral resection with auto-alloplasty of the ensuing defect, piecemeal removal of the tumour through the lumen of the trachea, and intrathoracic tracheotomy with biopsy of the tumour. All patients were discharged after the operation. When giving an anaesthetic during an operation on the thoracic portion of the trachea it is expedient to introduce a tube into the left main bronchus from the right pleural cavity and to exclude the right lung from ventilation. These measures ensure convenience of manipulation of the trachea, unhampered by the presence of a tube. End-to-end anastomosis is the best way to restore the thoracic portion of the trachea after circular resection. The problem of replacing large fenestral defects of the trachea can be solved by auto-alloplasty with thick Marlex, preliminarily overgrown with connective tissue.