Surgical Correction of Laryngotracheal Stenoses in Children

Laryngotracheal stenoses are increasing in frequency owing to the advances in anesthesiology and neonatology, giving even newborns with severe respiratory problems a chance of survival. Thus, congenital malformations of the laryngotracheal region are dealt with, but acquired stenoses are then observed (Banfai 1976; Tucker 1975, 1978). Sooner or later a tracheostomy becomes necessary in either congenital or acquired stenosis. A small child with a tracheal cannula, however, is exposed to disturbances in general development, and the cannula is also an enormous burden, both physically and psychologically, for the whole family. Therefore, the earliest possible removal of cannulas in such children has been a major aim for some years in Zurich.