For severe dysphagia, surgical treatments are considered if conservative approaches are not effective. Central-part laryngectomy (CPL) is a surgical approach for treating intractable aspiration. In this procedure, the area of the glottis including the mid-part of the thyroid cartilage and cricoid cartilage is removed in order to separate the digestive tract from the airway. It is less invasive than ordinary total laryngectomy because the lateral part of the thyroid cartilage, the whole hypopharyngeal mucosa, superior laryngeal artery and nerve, and the epiglottis are conserved. Furthermore, a simple pharyngeal tract is formed by cutting the cricopharyngeal muscle, which facilitates oral intake after surgery. We performed CPL for 2 cases (a 44-year-old man with Wallenberg syndrome and a 75-year-old man after tongue cancer surgery) to prevent severe aspiration. After surgery, both patients achieved oral food intake, and alternative nutrition became unnecessary. This procedure is extremely useful not only for preventing aspiration but also for achieving oral intake after surgery.
