Windpipe Stent??

ChicagoGranny wrote:

Todzo wrote: What it means when they toss gross pictures at is I do not know - but - shame on them for that.

Coincidentally, the man has an eye injury. He is one of the few using a nasal trumpet that would agree to have his photograph used.

I don't think it is usual for you to call people with injuries and disabilities "gross".

I'll bet before the hospital trip, beer and telling his buddies watch this was involved! Jim

You generally can't stand anything in your throat like this. We have a really strong gag/cough reflex to make us clear out any foreign objects in our airway. Even your own mucous is uncomfortable.

There have been some experiments with various kinds of breathing tubes that you slid in through the mouth or nose, but they usually requires some sort of anesthetic and were difficult to insert, especially for the patient to do it to himself.

Various kinds of breathing tubes are a common thing in emergency medicine and medical procedures. Many of these things are sort of "breathing stents." In general, a patient can't stand these unless they're sedated or unconscious.

I suspect there's considerable risk of damage to the tissues. They're not intended to be pushed on by a foreign object.

Maybe someone will figure out a way to do this without being hideously uncomfortable. Or do do some sort of surgical thing like the Pillar procedure, but in the other parts of the airway.

Any stent in the throat would stop the saliva going down and accumulate there. If it's not suctioned out you'll be coughing and spitting all day long.

avi123 wrote:Any stent in the throat would stop the saliva going down and accumulate there. If it's not suctioned out you'll be coughing and spitting all day long.

Good point.

The epiglottis needs to close so you can swallow without the liquid or solid going into your lungs rather than your stomach. You need to swallow during your sleep (or while awake) to get rid of saliva or mucous.

Your soft palate needs to close off to keep food out of your nose when you swallow. That's part of why UPPP surgery is often a problem.

A lot of obstructive apnea is caused by your tongue sliding back and closing off the pharynx. I suspect your tongue needs do do this while swallowing to push food or liquid down, as well.

A hard stent like device to keep any of these points open would probably interfere with swallowing. You'd need some way to keep them open when your muscles are relaxed, but still allow them to close off when needed to swallow. CPAP more or less does that with air pressure.

Maybe someone will figure out some sort of springy wire type thing that puts a spring force of some kind in the right places to keep the airway open when relaxed and still allow swallowing and other movement.

Indeed.

With the multitude of dental surgeons trying to get rich prototyping the perfect appliance no doubt somebody
will invent something that will eliminate pap eventually.

BlackSpinner wrote:

NJDav wrote:Having a discussion with a friend that had recently had some heart problems, we got on to health in general and he asked if my OSA was cured yet, I laughed. Further on to the discussion we both wondered if it would be possible to have a stent fitted in the part of the windpipe that collapses cause the OSA. Anyone heard of this, is it a possible 'fix'

Just interested in what you guys think/know.

Currently only in the form of a tracheotomy.