Objective. To evaluate the effectiveness of a surgical tactics used for the treatment of children with chronic post-intubation laryngeal stenosis depending on the condition of their laryngeal cartilages. Patients and methods. We treated 47 children with chronic post-intubation laryngeal stenosis. Preoperative examination included endoscopy and computed tomography (CT) of the larynx and trachea. We evaluated the condition of their laryngeal cartilages in order to choose an optimal surgical tactics. Children with intact laryngeal cartilages (n = 20) have undergone endolaryngeal microsurgery using a CO2 laser. This method caused minimal injury due to submucosal excision of scar tissue, which enabled wound coverage with mucous microflaps to prevent recurrent stenosis. Surgery for extensive stenosis in the middle portion of the larynx was associated with a risk of recurrent scarring. In our study, we prevented it by using endografts during 21 days. However, patients with lesions in the subglottic larynx still had a high risk of recurrent stenosis (5 out of 12 patients) even if there was no evidence of damage to the laryngeal cartilages. Results. Twenty-seven patients with laryngeal post-intubation stenosis with lesions to the laryngeal cartilages detected before surgery have undergone extralaryngeal laryngotracheoplasty. Eighteen children have undergone laryngofissure with subsequent stenting between 6 and 18 months with a T-shaped silicone stent. Nine patients have undergone single-stage laryngotracheoplasty with autologous grafts. Conclusion. The methods used in this study have demonstrated high effectiveness, while the use of grafts reduced the number of stages of surgery and its duration. Key words: laryngotracheoplasty in children, laryngeal microsurgery, complications of tracheal intubation in children, chronic laryngeal stenosis, cartilage autologous grafts, CO2 laser
Endoscopic Surgery of the Broncho-esophageal Diseases. Endolaryngeal Surgery for Laryngeal Stenosis.
