Care & Treatment

Laryngology

   

What treatments do the laryngologists at Stanford offer?

  • Evaluation for and identifying the cause of hoarseness, airway and swallowing disorders.
  • Care for the professional voice.
  • Multidisciplinary management of voice disorders and laryngeal cancer.
  • Referrals for voice therapy or swallow therapy with a speech language pathologist when appropriate.

What are some symptoms I should bring to a laryngologist?

  • Change in voice including hoarseness, breathy voice, decreased loudness, loss of range, voice breaks, and vocal tremor.
  • Pain with talking or singing
  • Difficulty swallowing such as choking while eating or drinking, regurgitation of food, or food getting stuck in the throat when swallowing.
  • Pain with swallowing
  • Persistent throat pain
  • Difficulty breathing or noisy breathing
  • Chronic cough
  • Cancer of the throat

What are some problems commonly diagnosed and treated by the Stanford laryngologists?

Airway Stenosis

  • Glottic Stenosis
  • Subglottic Stenosis
  • Supraglottic Stenosis
  • Tracheal Stenosis

Disorders of the Esophagus

  • Cricopharyngeal Dysfunction
  • Esophageal stenosis
  • Radiation-related Swallowing Disorders
  • Zenker's Diverticulum

Neurologic Disorders

  • ALS
  • Parkinson's Disease
  • Stroke

Vocal Fold (Vocal Cord) Lesions

  • Cancer of the Larynx
  • Cysts
  • Granulomas
  • Laryngitis
  • Leukoplakia
  • Nodules
  • Papilloma
  • Varices (Enlarged Blood Vessels)
  • Vocal Fold Hemorrhage
  • Vocal Fold Scarring

Other Voice Disorders

  • Age-related Voice Changes
  • Chronic Cough
  • Laryngopharyngeal Reflux
  • Laryngospasm
  • Paradoxical Vocal Fold Motion
  • Scarring and narrowing of the vocal folds and airway
  • Spasmodic Dysphonia
  • Vocal Fold Paresis/Paralysis

What procedures are available?

Procedures in our Clinic

  • In-office vocal fold injection augmentation for paralysis, paresis or bowing
  • Botox injections for selected laryngeal diseases such as spasmodic dysphonia
  • Transnasal esophagoscopy
  • Laser treatment of papillomas
  • Laser treatment of vocal fold lesions
  • In-office steroid injections of some laryngeal lesions or scarring 
    Some lesions of the vocal folds or areas of scarring can be treated with steroid injections. This can be achieved with direct laryngoscopy with general anesthesia in the operating room or with local anesthesia in the office. In the office, the patient’s throat is first anesthetized with topical numbing medicine. Then a flexible laryngoscope is passed through the patient’s nose to visualize the pharynx and larynx. A needle is then either passed through a working channel of the laryngoscope or passed through the skin of the neck and used to inject steroids into the intended area
  • In-office laryngeal biopsy 
    For some patients with masses or lesions in the pharynx or larynx who cannot undergo a direct laryngoscopy with general anesthesia in the operating room, biopsies can be performed in the clinic through a flexible laryngoscope. The patient’s throat is first anesthetized with topical numbing medicine. Then a flexible laryngoscope is passed through the patient’s nose to visualize the pharynx and larynx. Biopsy forceps are then passed through a working channel of the scope and biopsies are taken. The tissue is sent to the pathologists to obtain a diagnosis.
  • Flexible Endoscopic Evaluation of Swallowing
    Flexible Endoscopic Evaluation of Swallowing (FEES) is a diagnostic study performed by either a laryngologist or speech language pathologist to assess swallowing function. It is performed by visualizing the larynx and pharynx with a flexible laryngoscope passed through the nose while the patient swallows different consistencies of food or liquids.

Procedures in the Hospital