A case of bronchial stenosis due to postoperative inflammation treated with expandable metallic stent

We presented a 61-year-old man who had undergone a left sleeve upper resection because of a squamous cell carcinoma of the upper lobe of the left lung. At 5 weeks after the operation, the anastomosis between the left main bronchus and the left lower bronchus became stenotic, therefore pneumonitis occurred below the anastomosis. Because of the inflammatory granulo stenosis for short time, we used an expandable metallic stent to save a residual lung function of the operated side. The anastomosis between the left main bronchus and the left lower bronchus was kept open satisfactorily, and in the late postoperative periods the residual lung function recovered until the levels of predicted residual lung function.