Anesthesia for the patient with tracheal stenosis.

Tracheal stenosis may occur secondary to trauma, tumors, infection, inflammatory diseases, or iatrogenic causes. Understanding these lesions requires a basic understanding of the physics of airflow. All of these patients must be carefully evaluated and require a series of tests, including pulmonary function tests and radiographic studies. Treatment of tracheal lesions is a multidisciplinary issue and requires the close participation of interventional pulmonologists, anesthesiologists, and surgeons.