Losing One’s Voice to Save One’s Life: A Brief History of Laryngectomy

Laryngectomy is a surgical procedure that involves the surgical removal of the laryngeal complex, thereby separating the upper from the lower respiratory tracts, resulting in a tracheostomy. In this way, respiration is achieved at the expense of the patient’s voice. A neopharynx is formed, serving only as a digestive passage between the mouth and the esophagus. Until the introduction of the procedure, patients with laryngeal cancer were considered terminally ill. Most often, the title of “First recorded laryngectomy” is held by Theodor Billroth in 1873; however, the outcome of the operation itself was doubtful, with later attempts having a 50% mortality rate. The first major leap in reducing patient mortality rates was the introduction of the two-step laryngectomy, performed by Themistocles Gluck in 1881. This achievement, along with the general advancements in the field of surgery at the time allowed his student Johannes Sørensen to perfect the method and further develop it into a modified single-stage laryngectomy. This procedure is the basis of contemporary methods.