Supraglottoplasty for laryngomalacia: The experience from Concepcion, Chile

To review the clinical manifestations and outcomes of supraglottoplasty in patients with moderate to severe laryngomalacia at Guillermo Grant Benavente Hospital between January 2015 and January 2017.

Retrospective study of patients with laryngomalacia who underwent CO2 laser supraglottoplasty at a tertiary referral center. A review of medical records of these patients was performed. Epidemiological data along with symptoms, comorbidities, morphological type of laryngomalacia, synchronous airway lesions, surgery outcomes and satisfaction of parents after the procedure were recorded. Surgical success was defined as the resolution of the criteria of severity of laryngomalacia.

Twenty-four patients were operated, 1 was excluded due to prior tracheostomy. Twenty-three patients were included, the median age at the time of surgery was 5.5 months. All the patients had stridor, 87% presented feeding difficulties, 34.8 % had cyanosis and 21.7% had failure to thrive. Six cases had congenital anomalies and four cases had nongenetic comorbidities. Fifteen patients (65.2%) had synchronous airway lesions. 17.4% had type I laryngomalacia and 82.6% were type 2. The postoperative average hospital stay was 1.3 days. The average follow-up was 14 months and no complications were reported. The overall success rate of surgery was 95%.

Patients with laryngomalacia and any symptom of severity should undergo a full airway evaluation, to rule out synchronous airway lesions, and supraglottoplasty if needed, as it has been shown to be a safe and effective technique for the management of these patients.