Comparison of CO2 laser and conventional laryngomicrosurgery treatments of polyp and leukoplakia of the vocal fold.

The efficacies of CO2 laser and conventional laryngeal microsurgery for vocal cord benign (vocal cord polyp) and precancerous (vocal cord leukoplakia) lesions were compared. Patients with bilateral vocal cord polyps (n = 60) and leukoplakia (n = 30) were divided randomly into two groups. One group was treated with throat microsurgical instruments and underwent routine lesion resection (conventional group) and the other with CO2 laser (laser group). For the subjective assessment, the tools GRABS and VHI were used. The objective assessment, A multi-dimensional voice program module for voice spectrum analysis was used. The laser group was slightly worse than the conventional group 1 week post-surgery by stroboscopic findings. The subjective and objective data of the two groups pre-and post-surgery showed that the voice recovery of the laser group was significantly better than that of the conventional group (P < 0.05). CO2 laser laryngeal microsurgery for vocal cord polyp and leukoplakia can improve significantly the vocal cord morphology and pronunciation quality. The procedure is especially more effective than conventional surgery in patients with vocal cord leukoplakia.