Postoperative pharyngocutaneous fistula is a major complication of total laryngectomy that prolongs the short hospitalization of 2 to 3 weeks to many weeks or even months. It is a common complication that increases the morbidity and mortality of the procedure. In the Department of Otolaryngology of the Red Cross Hospital of Athens, 310 patients underwent total laryngectomy from January 1980 through December 1989. Twenty-eight patients developed a fistula (incidence 9%). The incidence, predisposing factors, and methods of treatment of this complication are analyzed and discussed.

Various mucoperiosteal flaps from the nose (nasal walls) are in use today in frontal sinus surgery in cases where a wide opening between the frontal sinus and the nasal cavity is created. These flaps are transferred to cover denuded bone in the area of opening and thus prevent the opening from narrowing or closing, which would result in the reappearance of frontal sinus problems. In this paper, a new mucoperiosteal flap taken from the upper extension of middle turbinate is described.

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