[Supraglottoplasty for pediatric laryngomalacia : Results from 71 cases]

Laryngomalacia is the most common cause of stridor in infants. The stridor is caused by an inward collapse of supraglottic structures during inspiration resulting in an inspiratory stridor. The exact etiology still remains unclear. The surgical procedure of choice for laryngomalacia is supraglottoplasty. From 2009 to 2016 a total of 71 children were treated by supraglottoplasty in the department for pediatric otorhinolaryngology of the Stuttgart Hospital. The indications for supraglottoplasty were laryngomalacia with severe inspiratory stridor, oxygen desaturation, suprasternal or chest retraction, feeding difficulties and/or failure to thrive. The overall success rate was 86 % but there was a clear difference between children with isolated laryngomalacia and the group with associated comorbidities. The success rate for patients with isolated laryngomalacia was 98 % and for patients with associated comorbidities 57 %. Supraglottoplasty is therefore an effective and safe treatment for symptomatic laryngomalacia and a reduction in the success rate showed a clear correlation with the presence of congenital comorbidities.