Blue Laser Therapy of Laryngeal Stenosis

Abstract

Laryngotracheal stenosis always has presented special difficulties for laryngologists and patients. The etiology is not always certain, although some etiologies such as trauma are well known. Whether the stenosis is supraglottic, glottic, or subglottic, recurrence rates are high. In addition to various adjunct treatments, lasers of various wavelengths have been used widely for management of airway stenosis. While lasers work well in the operating room and in office settings, stenosis tends to recur, and if there has been substantial thermal injury from the laser, the recurrent stenosis occasionally is worse than it was when the lesion was treated. Minimizing thermal trauma from laser surgery should help. Blue laser in cutting mode offers superior precision in comparison with other wavelengths that have been used, as well as decreased thermal injury. Blue laser has been used effectively for airway stenosis. Blue laser has not been available for this application long enough to generate sufficient evidence to determine its efficacy for airway stenosis, but preliminary results appear encouraging.