Year: 2025
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Purpose Feeding difficulties and failure to thrive are common findings in patients with severe laryngomalacia with an indication for supraglottoplasty. The aim of this study is to evaluate the outcomes of supraglottoplasty for severe laryngomalacia and its impact on weight progression. Methods An observational cohort study of pediatric patients with laryngomalacia who underwent supraglottoplasty from 2018 to 2023 was conducted. Postoperative outcomes, including weight gain were evaluated. Children with comorbidities which caused a negative impact on height and weight development were excluded from the study. Results Thirty-eight children with severe laryngomalacia underwent supraglottoplasty; After exclusion criteria, 32 patients were analyzed; 59.4% were male. The mean age at presentation was 5.8 months and at surgery was 10.5 months. All cases of respiratory distress resolved with surgery. In the weight evaluation, 56.3% had a preoperative weight percentile below 15 and 10 patients were below 5. A statistically significant increase was observed between the preoperative weight percentile and the postoperative weight percentile at 1, 3 and 6 months. Regarding children with weight percentile below 15, 72.2% successfully crossed two weight percentile lines and 90% of children with failure to thrive managed to rise above the percentile 5. Conclusion Supraglottoplasty leads to symptomatic improvement and a significant increase in weight percentile in patients with severe laryngomalacia. Growth curves adjusted for gender and age should be an objective measure of supraglottoplasty outcomes.
Source: Acta Oto-Laryngologica
Language: English
Subfield: Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W4409729818