Tracheoesophageal Puncture Site Closure With Butterfly Cartilage Graft

A tracheoesophageal voice prosthesis is very effective for improving speech after total laryngectomy. Although it is generally a safe method, it may be necessary to close the tracheoesophageal fistula due to complications such as prosthesis-related cellulitis, granulation tissue formation, tracheoesophageal fistula necrosis, or salivary leakage around the prosthesis. Surgical and non-surgical methods for closure have been described. In this article, a method for closing the tracheoesophageal fistula with a butterfly cartilage graft is described. The butterfly cartilage technique is safe and efficient in terms of anatomical closure of the fistula. This study shows that the method can be easily applied, with low morbidity, using an auto-graft material with local anesthesia in an outpatient setting. Address correspondence and reprint requests to Alper Yenigun, MD, Bezmialem Vakif University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Adnan Menderes Boulevard, 34093, Fatih, Istanbul, Turkey; E-mail: alperyenigun@gmail.com Received 29 July, 2018 Accepted 1 December, 2018 The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest. © 2019 by Mutaz B. Habal, MD.

https://ift.tt/2VedysD