Non‐Surgical Treatment of Tracheal Glomus Tumour Using Rigid Fiberoptic Bronchoscopy: A Case Report

TL;DR

A 38-year-old man with a rare tracheal tumor was successfully treated using a non-surgical bronchoscopy method instead of traditional surgery.

Contribution

This case report presents a non-surgical treatment approach for a rare tracheal glomus tumor using rigid fiberoptic bronchoscopy.

Findings

The patient's tumor was resected using rigid fiberoptic bronchoscopy due to the high risk of surgical complications.

A 12-month follow-up was implemented to monitor the patient and assess the need for further surgical treatment.

The case highlights the feasibility of bronchoscopy as an alternative to surgery for tracheal glomus tumors.

Abstract

Glomus tumours are a group of benign neoplasms originating from the modified smooth muscle cells at the arteriovenous anastomosis that can impact body temperature and blood flow. They are most commonly seen in the subungual region of the subcutaneous tissue, and less frequently seen in organs including the lung and trachea. Tracheal Glomus Tumours (TGTs) are extremely rare subtypes of primary tracheal tumours affecting patients with a mean age of 45, most commonly seen in males and presenting symptoms including cough, dyspnoea, or haemoptysis. Although surgery is considered the primary approach for the treatment of TGT, alternative approaches such as rigid fiberoptic bronchoscopy are considered especially due to the rarity of this disease. In the present case, we report a 38‐year‐old male patient with a TGT near the carina with symptoms including dyspnoea, cough, and mild haemoptysis. Although the diagnostic approaches revealed a polyploid mass, surgery was related to a higher risk of complications and thus, we used rigid fiberoptic bronchoscopy for the resection of the tumour and considered a 12‐month follow‐up for monitoring of the patient to assess the need for potential surgical treatment.

We report a 38‐year‐old male patient with a TGT near the carina with symptoms including dyspnoea, cough, and mild haemoptysis. Although the diagnostic approaches revealed a polyploid mass, surgery was related to a higher risk of complications and thus, we used rigid fiberoptic bronchoscopy for the resection of the tumour and considered a 12‐month follow‐up for monitoring of the patient to assess the need for potential surgical treatment.

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