This is a film showing actual surgery performed using the trans-oral microlaser technique.
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The case depicted is of a patient with a T1 cancer of the vocal cord. The same technique can be used for resection of tumors in the supra-glottic larynx, the hypopharynx and the oro-phraynx, including masses larger than the one shown here.

When tumor size suggests that lymph node dissection of the neck is appropriate, this can be performed as a staged procedure several weeks after primary tumor resection. By waiting this period, the surgeon can feel more certain that spread to the nodes from the now-resected primary tumor is complete, increasing the chance that the neck resection will be curative.

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