Une histoire de la laryngectomie à travers les siècles

While tonsillectomies and tracheotomies were described for many years, it is not until the middle of the XIXth century that the the surgical approaches (laryngectomies) designed to resect in part or totally the organ that allows for successful speech and swallowing, appeared in Europe. A century and a half later, the number of laryngectomies performed yearly in France is not known. However, in the USA, it is estimated that around 3000 laryngectomie are performed yearly with a living laryngectomised population around 60 000 patients. The outbreak of this family of surgical procedures in the XIXth century results from the conjunction of numerous factors analysed in the current review that also evaluate the development and improvement of these surgical technics over the years as well as their social implications and their future within the various treatment modalities now available to manage patients with a laryngeal carcinoma.