Balloon dilatation versus CO₂ laser surgery in subglottic stenosis, a retrospective analysis of therapeutic approaches

Figures & data

Figure 1. Flow chart illustrating which diagnosis (ICD-10) patients were included also showing excluded cases.

Table 1. Case characteristics.

Patient characteristics	All patients (n = 63)	Balloon dilatation method (n = 25)	CO2 Laser method (n = 18)
Sex
Male	14 (22.2%)	4 (16%)	6 (33.3%)
Female	49 (77.8%)	21 (84)	12 (66.7%)
Smoking status
Yes	1 (1.6%)	0	0
No	40 (63.5)	21 (84%)	12 (66.7%)
Former	7 (11.1%)	2 (8%)	2 (11.1%)
Unknown	15 (23.8%)	2 (%)	4 (22.2%)
Age, mean (SD)	60.1 (21.1)	51 (20.2)	64.11 (23.9)
Male	59.3 (22.3)	35.50 (25.4)	63.67 (28.6)
Female	60.4 (21.0)	53.95 (18.3)	64.33 (22.6)
Age at onset, mean (SD)	51.1 (19.1)	41.8 (18.0)	48.22 (21.5)
Male	48.0 (20.4)	26.3 (22.2)	46.67 (25.0)
Female	52.0 (18.9)	44.8 (16.0)	49.00 (20.7)
Systemic disease
Yes	10 (15.9%)	5 (20%)	2 (11.1%)
No	53 (84.1%)	20 (80%)	16 (88.9%)
GPA	4	2	1
Vasculitis	1	1	1
Cartilage degenerative	1	0	0
Rheumatoid arthritis	1	1	0
Ig4 related disease	1	1	0
Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis	1	0	0
Scleroderma	1	0	0
Treatments per patient
Cold technique only	29 (46%)	16 (64%)	0
Warm technique only	7 (11.1%)	0	5 (27,8%)
Both techniques	13 (20.6%)	9 (36%)	13 (72,2%)
No treatment	14 (22.2%)	0	0
ACCI grouped
None < 1	27 (42.9%)	18 (72%)	9 (50%)
Mild 1–2	18 (28.6%)	4 (16%)	5 (27.8%)
Moderate 3–4	11 (17.5%)	2 (8%)	2 (11.1%)
Severe > 5	7 (11.1%)	1 (4%)	2 (11.1%)
Total number of surgical events	159
Laser	50 (31%)
Balloon	60 (38%)
Rigid dilatation	36 (23%)
Submucosal resections	13 (8%)

Results presented in number and percentage (in brackets). Data is presented for all cases and the two study groups (balloon dilatation and CO₂ laser). Age-adjusted Charlson co-morbidity index (ACCI) was grouped accordingly. Smoking status was obtained from medical records and defined in 4 groups, cases in the unknown group was defined as cases where we could not find any data on smoking status at all.

Figure 2. Estimated survival functions with corresponding approximate 95% confidence bands for the respective surgical method, obtained from stratifying the Cox PH analysis on method. Including rigid dilatation and submucosal resections in the balloon dilatation group. Method B (balloon dilation) has a greater estimated survival up until approximately 700 days, after which method B (balloon dilatation) in fact has a lower estimated survival. However, the confidence bands for the respective methods are overlapping throughout. A = CO₂ Laser treatment. B = Balloon dilatation.

Figure 3. Estimated survival functions with corresponding approximate 95% confidence bands for the respective surgical method, obtained from stratifying the Cox PH analysis on method. In this analysis rigid dilatation and submucosal resection were excluded from the balloon dilatation group. Method B (balloon dilatation) has a greater survival up until approximately 700 days, after which balloon dilatation in fact has a lower survival. However, the confidence bands for the respective methods are overlapping throughout. Method A = CO₂ laser treatment. Method B = balloon dilatation.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author.