A case of severe laryngeal stenosis, successfully treated with the laryngofissure technique

Abstract

A 27-year-old woman suffered from dyspnea, caused by an accident. She underwent tracheostomy after prolonged endotracheal intubation. She had severe laryngeal stenosis, but desired to close the tracheostoma. In this case, we had to evaluate the stenosis and consider how to treat it. We performed microlaryngeal surgery under general anesthesia.
The anterior part of the glottis was adhesive and the subglottis was filled with scar tissue. The posterior part was intact and the cricoarytenoid joints were not fixed. These results showed that the glottis could be enlarged by the laryngofissure technique, removing the scar. The operation was performed under general anesthesia and the scar was removed. We succeeded in establishing a sufficient airway, and the laryngeal cutaneous fistula was closed six months later. We are now planning to close the tracheostoma.