TY - JOUR T1 - Bacterial Colonization of Airway Stents and The Effect of Colonization on Stent Course JF - European Respiratory Journal JO - Eur Respir J DO - 10.1183/13993003.congress-2020.1193 VL - 56 IS - suppl 64 SP - 1193 AU - Binnaz Zeynep Yildirim AU - Elif Tanriverdi AU - Demet Turan AU - Efsun Gonca Chousein AU - Mehmet Akif Ozgul AU - Erdogan Cetinkaya Y1 - 2020/09/07 UR - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/56/suppl_64/1193.abstract N2 - Introduction: Airway stents are used in central airway obstructions.Granulation and secretion retention are well documented but only a few studies focus on bacterial colonization of stents(Noppen,M.et al.Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 1999 Aug;160(2):672-7). Our aim is to investigate bacterial colonization and its effect on complications, hospitalization, emergency visits and mortality.Material and Method: Stent patients between January 2018- January 2019 and who had at least one follow-up bronchoscopy were recorded.Bacterial cultures, complications,1 year emergency visits,hospitalization and mortality rates were recorded.Results: Average age of the 48 patients was 60±1,5. 31 (64,5%) were male.Stent indications were airway obstruction due to carcinoma in 27 patients, postentubation stenosis in 15 and tracheobronchomalasia in 2.Tracheal Y-stent,stenotic, tubular and Oki stents were placed in 30,13,3 and 1 patients, respectively.29(60,4%) patients either had no positive culture(5) or one pathogen(24).19(39,6%) had positive cultures for more than 1 pathogen.The most common bacteria was Pseudomonas aeruginosa (45,8%).Granulation was seen in all patients regardless of bacterial results.There was no significant difference in mortality, emergency visits and hospitalization between patients with<2 and ≥2 pathogens(p=0,51).Oral antibiotics had no effect on following cultures.Conclusion: No correlation could be seen between hospitalization, emergency visits, mortality and stent colonization.In the absence of signs and symptoms of infection, routine bacterial cultures seem unnecessary and not cost-effective.Even if colonization is detected, the need for treatment is debatable and requires further investigation.FootnotesCite this article as: European Respiratory Journal 2020; 56: Suppl. 64, 1193.This abstract was presented at the 2020 ERS International Congress, in session “Respiratory viruses in the "pre COVID-19" era”.This is an ERS International Congress abstract. No full-text version is available. Further material to accompany this abstract may be available at www.ers-education.org (ERS member access only). ER -