ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Traumatic injuries of the larynx are diverse, uncommon, and potentially life threatening. Laryngotracheal trauma can be oadly divided into External trauma , which can be blunt or penetrating trauma , and internal trauma , which can be iatrogenic , thermal , caustic and foreign body injuries .external trauma which can be blunt trauma caused by motor vehicle accidents , suicidal or homicidal strangulation and penetrating trauma caused by suicidal or homicidal cut throat injuries . Iatrogenic injuries are most common cause of internal trauma . If not adequately treated these injuries lead to significant morbidity such as dysphonia , airway stenosis , aspiration and sometimes may lead to death . Laryngotracheal trauma is often associated with concomitant cervical or intracranial trauma or with multisystem poly trauma . External laryngeal trauma is rare. It has a population incidence of 1 in 137,000 in adults and accounts for 0.5% of trauma admissions in children. Incidence of postintubation laryngotracheal stenosis requiring surgical correction is 1 in 204,000 in adults and 4.9 in 100,000 in children.Laryngeal webs , intubation granulomas , laryngeal injuries while intubation , inhalational and ingestion injuries are very rare in incidence 1 . MATERIALS AND METHODS: 20 patients who presented with external and internal laryngotracheal trauma to casualty department in Government general hospital, Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh state , during the period between June 2015 to September 2017. A detailed history was taken with emphasis on trauma.Clinical features were noted and patients were appropriately investigated . RESULTS: The age of patients in present study varied from 12-70 years . Majority of patients are present in 26-40 years age group (55%) . Among the 20 cases in our study 13 cases were males (65%) and 7 cases were females (35%). In our study of 20 patients 14 patients sustained injuries due to external trauma(70%) and 6 patients presented with internal trauma of larynx(30%) due to prolonged intubation . In our study 6 of the 20 patients presented with laryngeal stenosis due to prolonged intubation among them 3 patients presented with subglottic stenosis 2 with glottic stenosis and 1 tracheal stenosis. Amongst them 9 of 14 patients were due to penetrating neck injuries(64.3%) and 5 of 14 are due to blunt neck trauma (35.7%) . 7 of 9 patients knife infected wounds and 2 due to motor vehicle accident. 2 of 5 patients in blunt trauma are due to hanging 2 are due to strangulation and one is due to bullgore injury. Most commonly presented with pain (70%) , dyspnoea (50%) , hoarseness (45%) . stridor was present mostly in laryngeal stenosis patients. The present study 15 of 20 patients airway was initially managed with the help of tracheostomy in 3 of 20 patients with intubation and 2 patients were under observation. There was a recurrence in one case of subglottic stenosis and endoscopic laser exicision was done again .In further followup there was no recurrence. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, we believe that the management of injuries to the larynx and trachea can be individualized based on the clinical presentation and mechanism of injury. Early diagnosis and stratification of treatment based on the initial history, physical findings has improved outcomes. Our goal remains preservation of life with restoration of a normal airway and voice. Patients with blunt injuries can often be managed conservatively with close monitoring in the intensive care unit. Penetrating injuries will often have associated injuries or airway compromise that will mandate operative exploration.