Introduction
Recurrent respiratory papillomatosis (RRP) is characterized by recurring benign papillomatous lesions in the respiratory tract, particularly the larynx, causing dysphonia, airway obstruction, and dysphagia occasionally. Existing evidence about disease risk factors is limited but includes both maternal HPV infection and patient smoking and sexual behaviors[1]. The age is an independent factor affecting disease aggressiveness of RRP, due to which RRP is usually categorized into juvenile onset and adult onset depending on presentation before or after the age of 12 years, respectively[2]. Generally, Jo-onset RRP is the most common benign tumors in the larynx of children, shows a high recurrence rate and diffuse involvement in the respiratory tract, which are prone to recurrence, and require multiple surgeries, causing heavy psychological pressure and financial burden on families. On the contrary, Adult-onset RRP is more localized and appears more frequently as a solitary lesion[3]. Malignant transformation of adult-onset RRP to squamous cell carcinoma has been reported to occur in 3-7% of cases[4].
RRP is a rare disease. Treatment requires experience and may be very difficult. Surgical debulking with or without adjuvant treatment remains the mainstay of treatment, which mainly aims to reduce the number and frequency of recurrences since no definitive curative therapy is known so far.[5] However, there is no standard guidelines for the choice of surgical technique nowadays. Commonly used surgical modalities include traditional cold instruments, microdebriders, 10,600nm carbon dioxide(CO2) laser, 532-nm pulsed potassium-titanyl-phosphate(KTP) laser[6]. Factors that can influence decision-making are the effectiveness and safety of surgical techniques, patient factors, surgeon preferences, and the availability of laser equipment in medical institutions.
In the few studies that compare the efficacy of different surgical modalities, the researchers did not found the optimal surgical modality to treat RRP. Papaspyrou presented the experience in treating laryngeal papillomatosis in three institutions over a period of 10 years wihiout distinction between children and adults. In the experience, CO2 laser therapy was the most common modality applied alone or combined with other treatment modalities and no major complication was observed. They also presented that there was no significant difference in repeat operation rate between the two larger patient groups, the one treated with CO2 alone and the other treated with cold instruments alone. El-Bitar[7] conducted a retrospective study of seventy-three operations, the microdebrider was proved to be less time-consuming than the carbon dioxide laser when used in patients with juvenile-onset recurrent respiratory papillomatosis, whit soft tissue complications were nonexistent. In 2015, Murono published a questionnaire to the department of otolaryngology at all 80 Chuo University hospitals in Japan with regard to the use of surgical instruments. A trend was observed towards lasers (50 hospitals) rather than micro devices (16 hospitals) or cold instruments (20 hospitals). Among the 50 hospitals that regularly undergo laser surgery, the most commonly used carbon dioxide (CO2) laser is followed by titanium-based potassium phosphate laser[8]. In 2016, a Germany multicenter cohort study reported that CO2 laser remained the most common surgical modality used alone or in combination with other treatment modalities[5]. Papaioannou[9] reported that the treatment of choice is surgical excision with the CO2 laser combined with the quadrivalent or polyvalent vaccine. According to the consensus of the International Pediatric Otolaryngology Group(IPOG) regarding operative considerations, the surgical modality with the greatest support is laryngeal microdebrider (65% “almost always” and 3% “almost never”), while the consensus on the use of CO2 laser is 0% “almost always” and 68% “almost never”, and the use of KTP lasers is 10% “almost always” and 71% “almost never”[10].
Herein, we conducted a retrospective cohort study to obtain a better understanding of RRP, and select the best surgical modality for RRP among microdebrider, CO2 laser and KTP laser.