The movable stent in choanal atresia.

The purpose of this paper is to report our experience in the surgical management of choanal atresia. All of the patients in our series have been treated by endonasal puncture and application of a movable stent. Seventeen patients were operated on using this technique between July 1978 and January 1984. Eleven of the 17 were bilateral atresias and the remaining 6 were unilateral. All 17 cases were successfully treated using this technique. Based on our experience, we believe the key to successful repair of choanal atresia lies not in the method of opening the atretic plate, but in providing a stent that is movable and will thus reduce the occurrence of restenosis. At the same time, we propose a simple method of diagnosis.