Consequences of CO2 Laser Surgery for Benign Vocal Cord Lesions

Background: Laryngeal disorders are the major source of hoarseness which effects on quality of life of patients so greater concern of ENT surgeons is to protect patient's voice. Although surgery is a good option in benign cases but it can damage the vocal cord or may result in poor functional outcome. Methodology: A descriptive Case Series study was carried out at E.N.T Department of Jinnah Hospital, Lahore from 20-04-2016 to 21-10-2017. Forty-five patients suffering from benign vocal cord lesions who received CO2 laser surgery for treatment were included in the study. All those patients who suffered from vocal cord malignancies, treated for benign vocal cord lesions, unwilling for CO2 surgery, having systemic diseases; thyroid, diabetes, and granulations were excluded from current study. All the patients were followed up at 6 months for acceptance of voice, recovery of lesion and hospital stay < 2 days Results: Majority (62.2%) of the patients of current study were males, presenting high male to females ratio 1.64:1, as 17 out of 45(37.8%) patients were female. Acceptance of voice was seen among 89.9% patients, whereas recovery of localized lesions was noticed in 91.1% patient, as well as hospital stay < 2 days among 84.4% patients. Conclusion: Males commonly affected with vocal cord disorders, whereas laser beam due to power (<1 W), reduced exposure time (milliseconds), use of micro-manipulators with a focused microspot diameter of less than 300 is effective strategy for the treatment of benign vocal cord lesions and is recommended in our setup.