Laryngopyocele: report of a rare case and systematic review

A 59-year-old man with a background of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease was diagnosed with a large mixed laryngopyocele that was successfully drained and marsupialized endoscopically using suction diathermy without requiring tracheostomy. Because of the rareness of the case, we performed a systematic review. Of 61 papers published between 1952 and 2015, we reviewed 23 cases written in English that described the number of cases, surgical approaches, resort to tracheostomy, complications, and outcomes. Four cases of laryngopyoceles were managed endoscopically using a cold instrument, microdebrider, or laser. Eighteen cases were operated on via an external approach, and 1 case applied both approaches. One of 4 endoscopic and 10 of 18 external approaches involved tracheostomy. Management using suction diathermy for excision and marsupialization of a laryngopyocele has never been reported and can be recommended as a feasible method due to its widespread availability. In the presence of a large laryngopyocele impeding the airway, tracheostomy may be averted in a controlled setting.