A Case of Eagle’s Syndrome Treated with Carbon Dioxide Laser

Abstract

Eagle syndrome is relatively uncommon with an incidence of abnormal stylohyoid length being 4% to 7.3%. A vast majority of individuals with elongation of the styloid process are asymptomatic. It is a syndrome marked by the clinical signs and symptoms of facial pain, ear pain, throat pain, dysphagia and a globus sensation in the throat. The cause of Eagle syndrome is believed to be a congenital or hormonal change and reactive osseus hyperplasia of the styloid process in response to pharyngeal trauma or surgical intervention, such as tonsillectomy. We present here a case of a 37-year-old female with a twelve-month history of both sided oropharyngeal pain and globus sensation which has no trauma or surgical intervention. The patient presented with a long, slender, bony intraoral projection that was found to be an elongated styloid process. We removed this elongated styloid process with a CO2 laser, and her symptoms disappeared.