Permanent tracheostomy meets 3D‐printing: Surgical technique and innovation

Summary This clinical commentary serves to accompany the recent case report from Debald et al. (2025) detailing the use of a removable, custom, 3D‐printed implant to manage a dynamically collapsing, permanent tracheal stoma. This creative use of an increasingly common technology provided a cost‐effective manner to successfully manage the complications that occurred in this case and allowed the clinicians to optimise the design of the implant, adapting to the changing conditions inherent in the healing process. This case serves as an excellent jumping‐off point to discuss both the surgical procedure and the use of 3D‐printing in equine surgery. As this technology advances, its scope has broadened to incorporate materials and designs of a dizzying variety. As it becomes increasingly cost‐effective and available, it would appear that the primary limit to its use will be our imagination, as clinicians and researchers continue to find innovative ways to utilise the technology.