Dr Nuss

We’re home! Aaron had a smooth recovery. The biggest worry was post-operative swelling, so they monitored his oxygen saturations through the night and they remained normal. Any swelling that he does have should resolve in a couple of days, then we should see an improvement in his breathing. Below are some photos of Aaron and also his airway.

Subglottic stenosis (Scar band). The bright white areas are his vocal cords. Beyond the cords should be wide open, but in this photo you can see that there is a web covering a large portion of Aaron’s airway (approximately 50%).

First laser cut into the scar tissue. The reason the cut into the web using vertical cuts is because if they just cut out the scar band, it will grow right back. The chances of his airway staying open longer is better with this type of cut.

Second laser cut

Airway after dilation

Site of cartilage graft from laryngotracheoplasty (LTP) in 1997. This area is at the front of his trachea (top in photo). The area is well-healed and covered with mucosa and lower in the airway than the scar problem.

The surgery went pretty much as expected. Aaron had a good size scar band blocking about 50% of his airway. The doctor put a couple of cuts through the band and then stretched it open with a balloon catheter and applied some Mitomycin C. There’s a good chance this scar tissue will grow back, but hopefully his airway will stay open for a while. Interesting that the graft from his LTP back in 1997 looked very good. This scar tissue is above the graft, just below his vocal cords

Aaron is settled in his room and so happy to have this operation behind him! He has a bit of a sore throat, which is normal. Hopefully he will be able to go home tomorrow. Dr. Nuss gave us some photos of his airway, which I’ll post when we get home.

Aaron is having a bronchoscopy/laryngoscopy, laser and dilation procedure this morning to open up his airway. He continues to have problems with scar tissue that develops in the form of webs in his trachea. We know his airway is small, but won’t know the details until after the bronch. Heading out to Boston Children’s in a few minutes. He is scheduled for surgery at 9am. Will bring my laptop and hopefully have an update later today.