[Functional outcomes of transoral laser surgery of supraglottic carcinoma].
OBJECTIVE
To analyse the functional outcome of patients with supraglottic carcinomas treated by transoral laser surgery.


METHODS
The clinical records of 55 patients who underwent transoral laser surgery were reviewed. Swallowing capacity, surgical complications, requirements for tracheotomies, percentage of decannulations, laryngeal paralysis, stenosis, aspiration associated pneumonia, time to remove the nasogastric tube and postsurgical stay in hospital were the studied variables.


RESULTS
52% of the patients had a normal or within functional limits swallowing performance. 18% suffered aspiration pneumonia. 13% developed a laryngeal stenosis. 7% suffered of laryngeal palsy. 18 tracheostomies were performed, of them 10 could be reverted. The mean time to remove the nasogastric tube was 9 days. The mean hospital stay was 23 days.


CONCLUSIONS
The main functional advantages of transoral laser surgery for supraglottic carcinoma, when compared with the conventional approach, are a lower incidence of temporary tracheotomies, a faster removal of the nasogastric feeding tube, and a lower incidence of pharyngocutaneous fistulas (0%).
Cabanillas
R
R
Servicio de Otorrinolaringología, Hospital Universitario Central de Asturias, Universidad de Oviedo, Instituto Universitario de Oncología del Principado de Asturias, Oviedo, Asturias. kainato@navegalia.com
Ortega
C
C
Rodrigo
J P
JP
Llorente
J L
JL
Ortega
P
P
Suárez
C
C
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D005931:Glottis; D006801:Humans; D007822:Laryngeal Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery*; D053685:Laser Therapy / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009055:Mouth; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome