Keele Research Repository

Introduction
Heat from transoral laser microsurgery can cause tissue shrinkage, impacting the surgical margin. The aim of this study was to compare shrinkage between cold steel and carbon dioxide laser resections of laryngeal lesions.

Materials
A European Laryngological Society type II resection was performed on 10 mm ‘lesions’ marked on both the true and false cords of fresh frozen human larynxes: laser resection on the right side and cold steel on the left side.

Results
Twenty-eight larynxes were included. Tissue shrinkage was significantly higher in laser resection (35-45%) compared to cold steel resection (8-14%) (p <0.0001). In most cases, there was no significant difference in shrinkage between true and false cord sites.

Discussion
This study demonstrates specimen shrinkage is significantly higher in laser resections. This shrinkage will affect the size of the margin; surgeons and pathologists should be aware of this when considering positive and close margins.