Paediatric laryngotracheal reconstruction: 20 years' experience.

Since 1974, nearly 800 open pediatric airway reconstruction procedures have been performed. Data on these procedures and patients are being systematically recorded as part of an airway procedures database. When complete, the database will facilitate the tracking and description of reconstructive techniques and their success as they evolve. This preliminary look at twenty years' experience with paediatric airway reconstruction is an overview of the changes that have occurred in the etiology of airway stenosis and the surgical procedures used to correct it.