Cryosurgery in bronchoscopic treatment of tracheobronchial stenosis. Indications, limits, personal experience.

Cryosurgery is one of the techniques available for bronchoscopic treatment of malignant and nonmalignant tracheobronchial stenosis; other techniques are electrosurgery, laser therapy, and endobronchial brachytherapy. Our experience began in 1976 and includes more than 300 patients treated with bronchoscopic cryosurgery either for malignant (the majority) or for nonmalignant tracheobronchial lesions. This study was performed on 234 patients treated in the years 1979 to 1988 subdivided as follows: 183 malignant tumors, 44 benign tumors, and 7 tumors of uncertain prognosis (adeno). The study demonstrated satisfying results in both (palliative in the first case, almost radical in the second one). The aim of our work was to report our personal data and to compare advantages and limits of this technique to others.