A variety of palliative options are available for the management of large airway obstruction, selection dictated in large, by the nature of the obstruction, acuity of presentation, availability of a particular procedure, and the expertise of the bronchoscopist.<sup>12Cavaliere S., Venuta F., Foccoli P., e al. Endoscopic treatment of malignant airway obstruction in 2008 patients Chest 1996 ;  110 : 1536-1542 [cross-ref]

Cliccare qui per andare alla sezione Riferimenti, 25Dweik R.A., Mehta A.C. Bronchoscopic management of malignant airway disease Clinical Pulmonary Medicine 1996 ;  3 : 43-51 [cross-ref]

Cliccare qui per andare alla sezione Riferimenti, 50Petrou M., Goldstraw P. The management of tracheobronchial obstruction: A review of endoscopic techniques Eur J Cardiothorac Surg 1994 ;  8 : 436-441 [cross-ref]

Cliccare qui per andare alla sezione Riferimenti</sup> As outlined in Figure 1, airway stents play a major role in the management of such clinical situations. The word stent honors a late nineteenth century British dentist, Charles R. Stent, who developed a dental impression material that was later used as a template to support healing skin grafts.<sup>47Nesbitt J.C., Carrasco C.H. Expandable stents Chest Surg Clin N Am 1996 ;  6 : 305-328

Cliccare qui per andare alla sezione Riferimenti</sup> Today, the word stent connotes to an artificial support that maintains patency of a hollow tubular structure. Although the concept of stenting can be traced back to the same period,<sup>6Bond C.J. Note on the treatment of tracheal stenosis by a new T-shaped tracheotomy tube Lancet 1891 ;  1 : 539 [cross-ref]

Cliccare qui per andare alla sezione Riferimenti</sup> it has only been in recent times that endobronchial stent placement has been regularly incorporated in clinical practice.

Over the last two decades, a large number of stents, with several design modifications, have surfaced in the market, the diversity attesting to ongoing pursuit of an ideal stent. The latter should possess several characteristics: (1) it should be easy to insert and remove, if necessary; (2) it should be available in different sizes to match the obstruction; (3) once placed can maintain its position without migration; (4) it should be firm enough to resist compressive forces, yet have sufficient elasticity to conform to the airway contours; (5) be made of inert material, not to irritate the airway, precipitate infection, or promote granulation tissue; and, (6) exhibit the same characteristics of the normal airway so that mobilization of secretions is not impaired. Obviously such a stent remains to be designed. In this article we provide an overview of present-day stents and present accumulated experience with Wallstents (Schneider Corporation, Minneapolis, MN), a type of stent that can be inserted using a flexible bronchoscope (FB).