Our experience of shorter stay and lower cost for local versus general anaesthetic placement of tracheoesphageal fistulae in 27 patients

Abstract

Secondary trache‐oesophageal puncture and fistula formation is often undertaken after laryngectomy to restore voice.

The procedure was historically carried out under general anaesthesia (GA).

This has been largely supplanted by local anaesthetic (LA) techniques as GA puts patients at a greater risk and the procedure is a more technically difficult undertaking.

LA techniques have, however, never been validated against GA techniques in terms of length of stay, cost and complication rates.

We compare a GA and an LA technique and found a shorter length of stay, reduced cost and similar complication profile.

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