Abstract
CO2 Laser has been widely used for the treatment of various diseases in the head and neck area. We used CO2 laser to fifty-four laryngeal cancer (glottis)patients and one hundred and eighteen allergic rhinitis patients.
CO2 laser was applied via laryngomicrosurgery to laryngeal cancers. Seven cases were not cured by laser and underwent laryngectomy. The patients were followed up for 7 to 96 months (mean 48.5 months).Fifty-three cases(98%) are survived without an evidence of recurrence. From this follow-up study we concluded as follows: 1) Tla can be treated by laser alone, 2) Tlb can be treated by laser alone or by a combination of laser and radiation, 3) a careful selection of cases for laser use is required in T2.
The inferior turbinates of allergic rhinitis patients were vaporized by means of CO2 laser. Improvement of nasal stuffiness was observed 85% of patients. Laser did not work for rhinorrhea and sneeze as effective as for stuffiness. Laser was effective to 63% of patients to control rhinorrhea and to 64% of patients to control sneeze. Laser enables a surgeon to perform the operation with minimum hemorrhage. The patients complained no pain during and after the operations. The operation can be done on out patients basis and no hospitalization is necessary.
