[Endoscopic Nd-YAG laser therapy and tracheobronchial surgery].

We applied endoscopic Nd-YAG laser therapy to eight cases before the tracheobronchial surgery (six lung cancers and two metastatic tracheal tumors). The preoperative application of Nd-YAG laser is a useful choice for the release of air way stenosis, the defining the border of tumor extension and the securing endotracheal intubation for anesthesia. More cases come into the category of surgical indication when Nd-YAG laser is applied, combined with chemotherapy and/or radiation. Preoperative evaluation of the limit of tracheobronchial resection as well as the method of the reconstruction are essential, however, the precise line of the dissection should be determined by knowing the histological finding of the resected by during the operation to make sure of the operative radicality.