New Laser Surgery For Voice Box Growths Offered By IU Physician

Main Category: Ear, Nose and Throat
Article Date: 11 Nov 2006 - 6:00 PDT

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Small growths on the voice box can cause hoarseness and difficulty swallowing, but a new laser procedure offered by the Indiana University School of Medicine allows patients the convenience of driving themselves home the same day, singing the praises of the less invasive treatment.

Many non-cancerous voice box growths can be treated in a clinic setting with a pulsed-dye laser. The new procedure offers fewer risks and much less recovery pain than the traditional procedure involving general anesthesia.

Stacey L. Halum, M.D., assistant professor of otolaryngology at IU, is the first and only laryngology fellowship-trained physician in Indiana offering office-based, pulsed dye laser (PDL) for papillomas, granulomas, polyps, Reinke's edema and dysplasia. These conditions traditionally have required surgery under general anesthesia, missed work, recovery discomfort and more expense.

The PDL procedure is done in a clinic setting and although some patients do not speak normally for a couple weeks due to a healing period after the laser treatment, most return to work the same day.

Patients undergo a local anesthesia and the laser is passed through a special endoscope to just above the voice box growth. Multiple pulses of laser energy are applied to the growth and the procedure is typically complete in about 10 minutes.

The PDL is an ideal laser for clinic use because it does not penetrate deeply significantly damage normal tissue so it produces much less scarring than other lasers. It also is selectively absorbed by blood vessels, resulting in fewer problems with bleeding.

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Source: Indiana University Press Release, Mary Hardin

For additional information, please visit the IU Clinic for Voice Swallowing and Airway Disorders.
And Indiana University School Of Medicine

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