Harmonic Shears in the Surgical Treatment of Laryngomalacia

Introduction Laryngomalacia (LM) is a condition that is clinically diagnosed in the pediatric period with inspiratory stridor and is caused by a congenital or acquired collapse of laryngeal suprastructures. Endoscopic supraglottoplasty is the modern gold standard surgical treatment for severe or complicated laryngomalacia. Various cold and powered surgical devices have been used to approach the aryepiglottic folds, and their advantages and drawbacks have been widely discussed. The applicability of Ultracision Harmonic shears (Ethicon Inc., NJ, US) for the sake of supraglottoplasty has not been previously advocated in the literature and is the subject of this study. Methods This was a review of the medical records of pediatric patients, with moderate to severe congenital laryngomalacia, who underwent supraglottoplasty with Harmonic at a single institution, from 2013 to 2019. Results A total of six patients underwent bilateral aryepiglottic fold division with the use of Ultracision in the study period (4 male, 2 female; mean age 7+/-9 months, age range 1m-24m). Postoperatively, all of the children were extubated and admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) as a precaution measure. There were no early or late complications after the intervention. The postoperative endoscopic picture was evaluated in three patients (two of which for another reason). A stable laryngeal frame with no collapse or excessive scarring was observed. None of the patients required repeat surgery. Conclusion Based on the ease of surgical access, performance, surgical precision, and postoperative results, the use of Harmonic scissors appears to be a safe, practical, affordable, and easily applicable alternative for supraglottoplasty Type 2.