The anterior cricoid split: the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia experience.

The anterior cricoid split procedure (ACS) is an alternative to tracheotomy in selected infants with subglottic stenosis. From February 1983 to October 1987, 26 children underwent ACS at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. All children had subglottic stenosis. Six children had previously undergone tracheotomy. A successful outcome, allowing extubation or decannulation, correlated only with decreased pre-operative intubation time and was achieved in 73% of these patients. A failed ACS had little adverse affect on the subsequent management of these children.