Augmentation Laryngotracheoplasty for Laryngotracheal Stenosis

Cho, Hyong Ho; Cho, Jae Shik; Lim, Sang Chul

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES
Laryngotracheal stenosis produces complications of respiratory and phonation difficulties and is one of the most troublesome diseases in the otolaryngological field. The purpose of this study is to determine the therapeutic effectiveness of augmentation laryngotracheoplasty for laryngotracheal stenosis as an operative management. MATERIALS AND METHOD: The authors retrospectively studied 16 cases of augmentation laryngotracheoplasty patients for the success rate, graft material, type of stent, number of surgery, and duration of treatment. RESULTS: The success rate was 68.7% (11 out of 16 cases). Three out of 5 cases which failed treatment were under 15 years of age. Decanulation was possible at 8.45 months (2-45 months) postoperatively on the average and the frequency of surgery was 4.36 times (2-13 times) on the average. There was no complication such as infection and necrosis. CONCLUSION: Our results show that augmentation laryngotracheoplasty is an acceptable option for the treatment of laryngotracheal stenosis, but needs multiple surgery and long time to be decannulated. The success rate of the augmentation laryngotracheoplasty in children is relatively low and a more aggressive approach could be selected. We conclude that augmentation laryngotracheoplasty in adult is a safe and effective procedure without major complications.