Stapler Versus Manual Suturing for Pharyngeal Closure in Total Laryngectomy

Laryngeal carcinoma is not uncommon worldwide. We conducted this study to comprehensively compare the outcome of stapler versus conventional suturing in total laryngectomy primary or salvage.

This is a retrospective study conducted in our tertiary institute from 2015 to 2022 involving patients diagnosed with laryngeal carcinoma who underwent total laryngectomy either primary or salvage. We divided patients into 4 groups: primary or salvage laryngectomy, closed with stapler or manual suturing. The reported outcomes included : operative time, length of hospital stay, start of oral feeding, incidence of pharyngocutaneous fistula, positivity of surgical margins, and surgical site infection. Patients with multiple comorbidities and those requiring a flap for pharyngeal closure were excluded .

A total of 91 patients were included in our study. Pharyngocutaneous fistula rate was 19% in conventional patient group in comparison to 6.7% in stapler group for primary total laryngectomy while it was 12.5% for salvage with stapler and 25% for salvage with conventional. Hospital stay was 6 ± 1.5 days for stapler and 11.4 ± 2.9 days for conventional suturing in primary laryngectomy. It was 8.8 ± 1.3 days for stapler and 13.1 ± 1.8 for conventional suturing in salvage laryngectomy. There was highly significant difference found as regard mean operative time, start of oral feeding and hospital stay in favor of stapler use.

Stapler use in total laryngectomy is is a simple, fast, and effective technique with tension free watertight closure, better hemostasis, less contamination of surgical field than manual suturing.