ABSTRACT
Endoscopic surgery of the pediatric airway traditionally has been difficult because of the lack of appropriate equipment. Moreover, the imprecision of conventional cold-knife, electrocautery, and cryosurgical techniques often compounded the problem with inadvertent but unavoidable damage to healthy tissues, resulting in consequent edema and scarring. As a result, a postoperative tracheotomy was often necessary, despite its undesirability.
