Treatment of laryngeal radionecrosis with hyperbaric oxygen therapy: a case report.

An 81-year-old male with early-stage laryngeal carcinoma had been treated with 60 Gy curative radiotherapy. He complained of a sore throat, foul odor in the mouth, progressive dyspnea, and fever 2 months after the completion of radiotherapy. Direct laryngoscopy revealed narrowing of the glottis with diffuse ulcerative necrotic tissue. Biopsies at multiple sites and pathology revealed intense coagulation necrosis with complete denudation of covering epithelium without any malignancy. Since laryngeal radionecrosis was suspected, the patient received hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) therapy 40 times for 1 hour of 100% O2 at 2 atm absolute pressure. His clinical symptoms gradually improved and repeated endolaryngeal biopsies were undertaken near the end of HBO therapy and again 6 months later. The patient's larynx healed completely with diffuse fibrosis and no malignant cells were found on pathology. Radionecrosis must be differentiated from cancer recurrence following curative radiotherapy for early laryngeal cancer. HBO therapy could be a useful treatment adjunct for laryngeal radionecrosis.