PROCEDURE

​

Your doctor puts a long, thin, flexible tube called a bronchoscope into your mouth and down your airway. This is a bit uncomfortable.

​

When the bronchoscope tube is in the right place, the doctor pushes the stent down the bronchoscope. It is a folded up wire mesh tube. As the stent comes out of the end of the tube, it opens up and pushes the walls of the airway open.

​

 

POSSIBLE RISKS AND COMPLICATIONS

​

Having an airway stent is a very safe procedure but your nurse will tell you who to contact if you have any problems afterwards.

The possible risks include:

• A chest infection – see your GP straight away if your phlegm (sputum) changes color, you start feeling more breathless or you feel as though you have a temperature.

• Needing extra oxygen – you might need oxygen through a mask for some time after the bronchoscopy. If you normally have oxygen at home you might need to have more than usual for a while.

• A collapsed lung (pneumothorax) – air or gas can collect in the space around the lung and make it collapse but this is rare. Contact a doctor if you get breathless or have chest pain. You have a tube put into the lung to remove the air.

• The stent moving and blocking the airway but this is very rare – contact your doctor or nurse straight away if you suddenly feel very breathless.