Techniques and outcomes of laryngeal cleft repair: An update to the Great Ormond Street Hospital series

We present an update to the Great Ormond Street Hospital series of laryngeal clefts, describing a further 35 clefts of Benjamin-Inglis types I through 3 treated between 1992 and 2003. Associated congenital anomalies were common. Most type I and smaller type 2 clefts were repaired endoscopically, whereas larger clefts were repaired through an anterior approach. Increasing use was made recently of a 3-layer repair with an interposition graft of temporalis fascia. The rates of complication, revision Surgery, and death were 54%, 26%, and 6%, respectively. Most of the children are now orally fed, and 9 still have a tracheotomy.