[First clinical experience with a moderately bent laryngoscope for endolaryngeal surgery]

In this article we describe the successful use of a moderately bent laryngoscope in two different patient cases.

We developed a prototype of a 20 degrees bent laryngoscope. The moderate curvature allows insertion of the laryngoscope without using any optical device. The operation is performed via a laterally attached 30 degrees nasal endoscope and a monitor, with slightly bent instruments. Previous work by our group showed that when a bent laryngoscope was used, the forces on the oropharyngeal tissues were significantly reduced. Furthermore, the use of these laryngoscopes significantly improves the exposure of the endolarynx.

We present two cases in which insertion of a conventional straight laryngoscope was not possible due to anatomical reasons. However, the operations could be performed successfully with the bent laryngoscope.