Bronchial Occlusion With Endobronchial Watanabe Spigot

Abstract

We published the first report on bronchial occlusion with silicone in 1991, and additional trials were subsequently made on cases of intractable pneumothorax and pulmonary fistula. Results of the trials indicate that bronchial occlusion with silicone provides a stronger and longer lasting bronchial blockade than conventional bronchial occlusion methods. As a result of our findings, we developed Endobronchial Watanabe Spigot (EWS), a silicone-made bronchial filler. Bronchial occlusion with EWS has been performed on 63 patients in Japan, including 40 cases of intractable pneumothorax, 1two cases of pyothorax with bronchial fistula, seven cases of pulmonary fistula, three cases of bronchial fistula with other organs, and one case of bronchial fistula. Affected bronchi were determined by balloon test and other clinical findings. Bronchial occlusion with EWS was attempted in 60 cases and technical success was obtained in 58 (96.7%) cases. Air leakage was stopped in 23 (39.7%) cases and reduced in 22 (37.9%) cases with this procedure. There were no severe complications that related to these procedures. We conclude that bronchial occlusion with EWS provides an efficient bronchial blockade when compared with conventional bronchial occlusion methods.