Repair of a subglottic stenosis by submucosal resection

A subglottic, intralaryngeal stenosis in a 5-year-old boy was successfully removed by microsurgical submucosal resection. The method reported provides adequate subglottic augmentation and interferes with the laryngeal cartilage only minimally. The use of small split-thickness skin grafts for lining material is advocated, as they take immediately and reduce the time for stenting. At followup, no recurrent stenosis has developed and the site of the skin grafts has been lined with ciliated mucosa. Post-operative hospitalization was considered to be acceptably short.