Laryngeal trauma: review of literature

Laryngeal trauma is a rare injury that can lead to rapid airway deterioration if not treated in a timely, proper manner. Due to its infrequent occurrence, many different management strategies have evolved. All approaches stress an immediate stabilization of the airway, followed by a diagnostic protocol that demarcates different groupings based on the extent of laryngeal trauma. Treatment regimens, ranging from medical to surgical, are then based on such groupings. The uniformity of the management strategy mentioned above is misleading given the variation of management in the literature. This paper reviews the management strategy for laryngeal trauma, while detailing the different approaches described in the literature.