| Patient
Services
Pulsed-KTP and
Thulium Laser TEchnology
Building on our pioneering development, since 1983,
of office-based surgery on the laryngopharynx, Bastian Voice
Institute has added two new lasers to its
videoendoscopy procedure room capabilities.
Eighteen months ago, we obtained the thulium laser.
Tissue effects are similar to those of the CO2 laser—except
that laser energy is delivered via a glass fiber, passed through
the channel of a flexible video-endoscope. We use the thulium
laser primarily in the treatment of papillomas, granulomas
that need a “stalk” divided, and clearly benign
leukoplakia.
Recently, we have acquired the pulsed-KTP laser,
also for office-based surgery. Laser energy is likewise delivered
via a glass fiber, but the chromophore is not the water molecule,
but instead the hemoglobin molecule, which makes this laser
well-suited to treating vascular lesions, including capillary
ectasia, lower-bulk papillomas, sessile granulomata, and pre-cancerous
lesions or early, superficial carcinomas.
“Office-based” surgery is not appropriate for
all lesions: e.g. those seen in singers with otherwise-irreversible
lesions, or for cysts and glottic sulci or when large cancers
are to be removed via laser excision. When appropriate, however,
an advantage of videoendoscopy procedure room laser surgery
is that patients can drive themselves to and from the procedure,
saving both time and expense. In addition, certain tracheal
lesions are more easily accessed through this approach, and
persons with anatomical or medical issues that prohibit general
anesthesia may be more safely and effectively managed.
While we continue to use time-honored operating room methodologies,
this newer “awake patient” laser methodology is
adding yet another option to BVI’s treatments of voice,
swallowing, and airway disorders.
|
