Affiliation:
1. Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery Rabin Medical Center – Beilinson Hospital Petach Tikva Israel
2. Sackler Faculty of Medicine Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv Israel
3. Davidoff Cancer Center Rabin Medical Center Petach Tikva Israel
Abstract
AbstractBackgroundLaryngeal chondroradionecrosis (LCRN) is a rare but severe complication of radiation therapy. The study aimed to review the management of LCRN and evaluate the clinical benefit of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT).MethodsWe retrospectively analyzed all radiation‐induced LCRN patients between 2006 and 2019 at a tertiary medical center. Diagnosis was based on signs and symptoms of Chandler's classification, imaging, and/or histopathology report. The primary outcome was improvement in Chandler's grade after HBOT.ResultsOf 678 irradiated laryngeal cancer patients, 29 (4.3%) were diagnosed with LCRN. The most common primary management was tracheostomy with intravenous steroids and antibiotics (59%). Ten patients received HBOT (34.5%), and six underwent total laryngectomy (21%). In HBOT‐treated patients, Chandler's grade significantly improved from a median of 4 (range 2–4) to 2.5 (range 1–4; p = 0.005).ConclusionsHBOT may benefit in the management of patients with persistence and unresponsive symptoms of LCRN following radiation therapy for laryngeal SCC.