Tracheal Tissue Engineering: Advances and Challenges

Traumatic tracheal injuries and congenital defects can be life-threatening and are associated with substantial morbidity and mortality. Regenerating the trachea through tissue-engineered scaffolds has emerged as an innovative alternative to traditional therapies that involve tracheal resection with primary end-to-end anastomosis or tracheostomies. Despite significant advances in biomaterial developments, stem cell biology, and novel scaffold fabrication, successful clinical translation of tracheal constructs remains limited. Major challenges include inadequate vascularization following implantation, epithelial regeneration, immune reactions, mechanical instability, infection, and inability of adaptive scaffold systems to withstand long-term tissue remodeling. While general tracheal tissue-engineering techniques and the materials, cell lines, and fabrication methodologies have been previously explored, this review summarizes current advancements in tracheal tissue engineering while emphasizing the mechanobiological and translational barriers that preclude functional tracheal regeneration and clinical success. Emerging knowledge in immunomodulatory biomaterials, dynamic scaffolds, strategic vascularization methods, and adaptable constructs has paved the way for researchers to develop a tracheal scaffold that can be translated into clinical use. This review provides a critical framework that discusses the advantages and potential pitfalls of the aforementioned technologies.