Transoral management of adult benign laryngeal stenosis

Management of benign laryngeal stenosis (BLS) remains challenging even though transoral treatments in selected cases have shown satisfactory results, at least comparable to open-neck approaches, with reduced invasiveness. To date, no overall consensus has been reached on many issues. The aim of this study is to assess the effectiveness of a purely transoral treatment in a cohort of patients affected by BLS.

We evaluated 40 patients affected by BLS, treated by transoral surgery between 2013 and 2017. The European Laryngological Society classification for laryngotracheal stenosis was applied for the staging. Improvement in airway patency and quality of life was assessed by decannulation rate, Airway-Dyspnea-Voice-Swallowing (ADVS) score, Voice handicap index (VHI)-30, and Eating assessment tool (EAT)-10 questionnaires.

Mean age was 61 years and M:F ratio was 1.4:1. Previous laryngeal surgery was the most common cause of stenosis (50%), followed by radiotherapy (20%), idiopathic etiology (12%), granulomatosis with polyangiitis (10%), and prolonged intubation (8%). Transoral treatment entailed an improvement in quality of life with a significant decrease in the VHI score (p < 0.0001) and improvement in Airway (p = 0.008), Dyspnea (p < 0.0001), and Voice (p < 0.0001) scores. No major perioperative complications were observed. The decannulation rate among patients with a tracheostomy in place (N = 16) was 63%.

Transoral treatment of selected BLS managed by a team with high-level expertise in surgery and anesthesiology is associated with significant improvement of quality of life, especially with regard to voice and breathing functions.