Complications after laryngectomy

The incidence and etiology of postlaryngectomy pharyngocutaneous fistulae

“…Indeed, partial pharyngectomy has been found to increase the formation of fistulas in some previous studies. 1,6,7 The incidence of fistulas was significantly higher in those patients undergoing concurrent neck dissection compared with those undergoing standard laryngectomy. This finding is in accordance with previous studies.…”

Postlaryngectomy pharyngocutaneous fistula: Incidence, predisposing factors, and therapy

“…The etiology of pharyngocutaneous fistula is still debated. Various predisposing factors have been proposed in the literature: previous radiotherapy, 1,3-12 type of surgery, 5,9,[13][14][15] combination with radical neck dissection, 11,12,16,17 the suture material used for pharyngeal reconstruction, 9 the presence of residual tumor, 5,18 previous conservative surgery, 4 previous neck surgery, 11 preoperative tracheotomy, 16,17 poor general conditions, 12 the site of origin of the tumor, 11 intraoperative blood transfusion, 19 low postoperative hemoglobin level, 6,7,16,17 type of neck drainage, 20 preoperative weight loss, 18 wound infection, [21][22][23][24] postoperative vomiting, 25 and hematoma formation. 21 The contrasting results regarding the relevance of most of the aforementioned factors could be explained in part by the lack of studies using multivariate analysis, 2,10,25 where each variable is adjusted for the others.…”

Jejunal Interposition for Repair of Stricture or Fistula after Laryngectomy

“…[1][2][3][4][5] A better understanding of the cause of these complications has led to a decline in their incidence. The surgical management of fistula and stricture has evolved as new methods of reconstruction have been introduced.…”