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View Full Version : Tracheal/Subglottic Stenosis and Laser Treatment



JanW
06-26-2010, 05:10 AM
I'm posting this here because I cannot remember which members said that they have had stenosis surgery done via laser.

I was speaking to Dr. Lebovics about this at my appointment today.

He said that while he uses laser when the scarring is so severe that it is absolutely impossible to cut through, it is very rare. He has done research that shows that not only is it completely ineffective in the medium to long term, it will also cause more scarring and more surgeries eventually. He said, "people who get lasered end up having it done every three months for the rest of their lives." He seemed frankly surprised that this was being done in any large teaching hospitals in the US -- he's aware that it's commonly done internationally.

So if you have SS or TS, just please be aware that these are the findings of one of the top docs in this area -- not just his opinion.

Sangye
06-26-2010, 05:40 AM
Wow, that's very useful info Jan. People should be mindful that getting frequent anaesthesia (like every 3 months for years) makes it less and less effective. They wind up having to use enormous doses just to knock you out. I know some kids with horrible diseases requiring frequent surgeries. Their docs have to use obese adult levels of anaesthesia, and it doesn't always work. :(

If seeing a Wegs specialist can help reduce the number of surgeries you have, it's just one more great reason to get to one.

JanW
06-26-2010, 05:54 AM
Dr. L. was mentioning to me that he saw seven WG patients on Monday -- pretty incredible for a guy who is in an office of maybe 15 ENTs.

Sangye
06-26-2010, 07:07 AM
Yes, an excellent example of the numbers of Weggies the specialists see. At my first visit with Dr Seo I was stunned by his knowledge of the disease and what I was going through. I asked him how many Weggies he sees. It was 11:00 am and he'd seen somewhere between 6 and 13 Weggies by then. (I've forgotten!)