Objective: The use of airway stents in the pediatric population is uncommon, reflected in the few patient series reported in the literature. We describe a fatal complication of tracheal stent placement in an 18-month-old child with spondylothoracic dysplasia.
Design: Case report.
Setting: Intensive care unit of a tertiary academic pediatric center.
Patient: An 18-month-old child with spondylothoracic dysplasia who underwent tracheal stent placement for tracheomalacia.
Interventions: Management of an acute upper-airway hemorrhage.
Main results: The patient died, despite aggressive interventions.
Conclusion: Use of tracheal stents in pediatric patients with tracheomalacia is not without risks; tracheal erosion with severe hemoptysis is an infrequent but devastating complication of this intervention.