Pharyngocutaneous fistula after total laryngectomy: incidence, cause, and treatment.

Postoperative pharyngocutaneous fistula is a major complication of total laryngectomy that prolongs the short hospitalization of 2 to 3 weeks to many weeks or even months. It is a common complication that increases the morbidity and mortality of the procedure. In the Department of Otolaryngology of the Red Cross Hospital of Athens, 310 patients underwent total laryngectomy from January 1980 through December 1989. Twenty-eight patients developed a fistula (incidence 9%). The incidence, predisposing factors, and methods of treatment of this complication are analyzed and discussed.