Abstract
Congenital subglottic stenosis is a rare anomaly caused by thickened cricoid cartilage. We tried ablating the thickened parts of the cricoid cartilage with KTP laser under direct vision, and attempted to preserve the tracheal opening by inserting a Tracheal Opening Retainer (TOR) during laryngotracheoplasty (LTP) with costal cartilage grafting. We could successfully enlarge the subglottic lumen without any complications. TOR was removed 55 days, and the tracheal openig was closed surgically 1 year and 2 months after LTP. It was suggested that ablation with KTP laser was safe and effective to vaporize the thickened cricoid cartilage and that retaining the tracheal opening by TOR at LTP was effective for safely providing an alternative channel for respiration during extubation of the nasotracheal stent tube.
