Biodegradable tracheal stents make breathing easier for kids with tracheal stenosis
Researchers demonstrate for the first time the successful use of a completely biodegradable magnesium-alloy tracheal stent, pictured, that safely degrades over the course of eight weeks and does not require removal.
CREDIT
Materialise
Pediatric laryngotracheal stenosis (LTS), a narrowing of the airway in children, is a complex medical condition. While it can be something a child is born with or caused by injury, the condition can result in a life-threatening emergency if untreated.
Treatment, however, is challenging. Depending on the severity, doctors will use a combination of endoscopic techniques, surgical repair, tracheostomy, or deployment of stents to hold the airway open and enable breathing.
While stents are great at holding the airway open and simultaneously allowing the trachea to continue growing, they can move around, or cause damage when they're eventually removed.
New research published in Communications Biology and led by the University of Pittsburgh is poised to drastically improve the use of stents, demonstrating for the first time the successful use of a completely biodegradable magnesium-alloy tracheal stent that avoids some of these risks.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-020-01400-7
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