Transoral CO2 laser partial laryngectomies using the digital scanning system

Transoral CO2 laser microsurgery is gaining ground at the expense of external approaches in the management of laryngeal tumors. Endoscopic surgical indications depend on the location, extension, and accessibility of the tumor as well as the surgeon's expertise. The status of surgical margins is a very important prognostic factor. One of the major criticisms against endoscopic resection is the difficulty of interpretation of histologic specimens because of the thermal effect of laser on tissues and specimen shrinking when formalin fixation is used. This article describes the authors' experience with transoral CO2 laser microsurgery for laryngeal tumors resection based on the European Laryngological Society established classifications for cordectomies and supraglottic laryngectomies as well as systematic frozen section analysis.