Partial Cricotracheal Resection

A partial cricotracheal resection is for patients who have a short section of scarring at the level of the cricoid (the ring of cartilage around the trachea)and the tracheal segment immediately below it. This complex surgery involves removing a scarred portion of the airway and reconnecting the healthy ends.

The procedure may take anywhere from two to six hours and your child leaves the operating room with a breathing tube or T-tube stent in place (no tracheostomy tube). Following the surgery, your child's neck must be immobilized in a flexed position for one to two weeks.

The child returns to the operating room for a microlaryngoscopy bronchoscopy approximately one week after the surgery to evaluate the healing process. The total length of the hospital stay will depend on your child's healing process, but is typically two to four weeks in the ICU.

Subglottic stenosis shown before and after partial cricotracheal resection.