Primary tracheal anastomosis after resection of the cricoid cartilage with preservation of recurrent laryngeal nerves.

Resections at the cricoid level pose the problems of damage to the recurrent laryngeal nerve and loss of circumferential cartilaginous support. Strictures within the cricoid ring have usually been managed with keels or stents, whereas neoplasms have been managed by laryngectomy. This paper reports on 6 patients with lesions involving the cricoid who were successfully treated by segmental tracheal resection and removal of all but a thin shell of posterior cricoid plate. The distal trachea was anastomosed at the subglottic level within 1 cm. or less of the vocal cords. Two patients had traumatic transection at the cricotracheal level with disruption of cricoid cartilage and avulsion of both recurrent nerves. Of the other 4 patients with tracheal lesions involving the cricoid, 2 had postintubation strictures, another had chemical burns, and the fourth had adenoid cystic carcinoma. Primary healing and good clinical results were obtained in all 6 patients. In the 4 patients with intact recurrent nerves, nerve function was preserved. This technique provides a method for resection and reconstruction in one stage for selected lesions at the cricoid level.