Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 19, 2025
Bronchial Thermoplasty: A Novel Therapeutic Approach to Severe Asthma
Published on: November 4, 2010
Recurrent respiratory papillomatosis in children: coblation versus microdebrider
Robert Mason1, Neil Bateman1, George McNally1
1Ear, Nose and Throat, Department of Paediatric Otorhinolaryngology, Royal Manchester Children's Hospital, Manchester, UK.
Objectives:
Recurrent respiratory papillomatosis is a benign disease caused by human papillomavirus that often requires frequent surgical intervention. In the UK, microdebridement is the most common technique compared to 3.3 per cent of procedures performed with coblation. This is the first study to compare the efficacy and safety profile of microdebriders versus coblation in children.
Methods:
Demographic data and surgical outcomes were collected retrospectively for all children with recurrent respiratory papillomatosis over an eight-year period.
Results:
Seventeen children with recurrent respiratory papillomatosis underwent a total of three hundred operations, including 182 coblation (60.7 per cent) and 113 microdebrider procedures (37.7 per cent). The complication rate was 3.8 per cent for coblation and 7.1 per cent for microdebridement (p = 0.22). There was no significant difference in the time interval between coblation and microdebrider procedures (p = 0.21).
Conclusion:
In children with recurrent respiratory papillomatosis, this study demonstrated a comparable efficacy and safety profile for surgical intervention with coblation versus the currently favoured microdebrider technique.
