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Microendoscopic treatment of the hypopharyngeal diverticulum with the CO 2 laser
Author(s) -
Lippert Burkard M.,
Folz Benedikt J.,
Gottschlich Stefan,
Werner Jochen A.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
lasers in surgery and medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.888
H-Index - 112
eISSN - 1096-9101
pISSN - 0196-8092
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1096-9101(1997)20:4<394::aid-lsm4>3.0.co;2-l
Subject(s) - medicine , cricopharyngeal myotomy , surgery , diverticulum (mollusc) , zenker's diverticulum , dissection (medical) , myotomy , pharynx , ligament , otorhinolaryngology , laser surgery , submucosa , dysphagia , esophagus , laser , achalasia , physics , optics
Background and Objective The hypopharyngeal (Zenker's) diverticulum is a herniation of mucosa and submucosa on the posterior wall of the pharynx. The only treatment is surgical. Study Design/Material and Methods: Between 1976 and 1993, 109 patients with a hypopharyngeal diverticulum were operated on at the Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University of Kiel, either transcutaneously combined with a cricopharyngeal myotomy (n = 76), or microendoscopically (n = 37) using the CO 2 laser. Results and complications of both techniques were evaluated and compared. Results With both surgical procedures, > 90% of the patients were treated successfully. The rate of postoperative complications was generally low. In comparison to the microendoscopic procedure, serious complications were found to be more frequent in patients treated with the conventional transcutaneous diverticulectomy. Conclusion The laser surgical tissue bridge dissection is a less invasive, quick, relatively safe, and effective procedure requiring only short hospitalisation. Therefore, the laser surgical tissue bridge dissection can be considered as the method of choice for the treatment of the hypopharyngeal diverticulum. Lasers Surg. Med. 20:394–401, 1997. © 1997 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.