Table 3. Large studies using cryotherapy for malignant airway obstruction.

Trial	Study design	Intervention	Patient Selection	Outcomes measured	Complications
Cryosurgery in bronchoscopic treatment of tracheobronchial stenosis. Indications, limits, personal experience (98) (N=234)	Retrospective review	Rigid bronchoscopy with rigid 3.2 mm cryotherapy probe	Patients undergoing bronchoscopic cryosurgery for either malignant or benign tracheobronchial lesions	Resolution of lung atelectasis 57%; resolution of lobar atelectasis 76%; improvement in hemoptysis 93%; improvement in dyspnea 81%; improvement in PaO2 71%; improvement in sepsis 40%	Text describes bleeding as most common complication but does not report complication rates
The role of cryosurgery in palliation of tracheobronchial carcinoma (95) (N=153)	Prospective observational review	Rigid bronchoscopy with 9.2 mm rigid cryotherapy probe	Patients undergoing bronchoscopic cryosurgery for malignant tracheobronchial lesions	Improved dyspnea 85/133 (63.9%); improved cough 82/120 (68.3%); control of hemoptysis 51/55 (92.7%); improved Karnofsky score 76/153 (54.6%)	Bleeding 2.0%; pneumothorax 0.6%; respiratory complications 1.3%; anesthetic complications 7.2%
The application of cryosurgery in the treatment of lung cancer (99) (N=476)	Retrospective review	Rigid bronchoscopy with either large rigid (9.2 mm) or flexible bronchoscope (2.4 mm) cryotherapy probe	Patients undergoing bronchoscopic cryosurgery for malignant tracheobronchial lesions	Improvement in hemoptysis 76.4%; improvement in cough 69.0%; improvement in dyspnea 59.2%; improvement in chest pain 42.6%; average increase in FEV1 90 mL; average increase in FVC 130 mL; average Karnofsky scale improvement 15.6 points	Bleeding 0.7%; pneumothorax 0.1%; respiratory distress 0.9%; anesthetic complications 0.2%; cardiac 1.6%; overall 3.5%
Endobronchial tumor debulking with a flexible cryoprobe for immediate treatment of malignant stenosis (91) (N=225)	Retrospective review	Flexible bronchoscopy (N=193 or rigid bronchoscopy (N=31) with flexible cryotherapy probe	Patients undergoing bronchoscopic cryosurgery for malignant tracheobronchial lesions	Successful cryorecanalization (91.1%)	Mild bleeding (4.0%); moderate bleeding (8.0%); severe bleeding (0%); pneumothorax (0%); pneumomediastinum (0.4%)