Cricoid resection and thyrotracheal anastomosis in the growing primate.

Although many procedures have been described for the correction of subglottic stenosis in the infant and child, none has been universally satisfactory. Cricoid resection and thyrotracheal anastomosis have been successful in adults, and we considered that the same techniques could be applied to correct subglottic stenosis in infants and children. A feasibility study was undertaken using young primates as a surgical model. The operation in each was accomplished uneventfully, although one animal later developed a complication possibly due to the use of a tissue adhesive. In practice, this complication could have been corrected without compromising the surgical outcome.