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New Laser Treats Throat Disorders
New technology allows outpatient treatment.
Patients who formerly needed surgery to treat disorders of the throat — cysts, lesions, polyps, abnormal (pre-cancerous) growths, trauma or swelling of the vocal chords — now have a new treatment option. The Otolaryngology Clinic at Froedtert & The Medical College of Wisconsin now treats these disorders on an outpatient basis with the Aura XP StarPulse™ laser, thanks to a grant from Froedtert Hospital Volunteer Associates (via Froedtert Hospital Foundation).
“The really big issue in laryngology (diseases of the throat) is that we’re shifting a lot of care from the operating room to the clinic because of new technology,” said Joel Blumin, MD, Medical College of Wisconsin otolaryngologist. “This laser energy is used to coagulate tiny blood vessels in benign lesions; this actually shrinks the abnormal tissue and makes it go away. We are the core laryngology group using this advanced technology for the entire region of southeast Wisconsin, northeast Illinois and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.”
“For many of the patients we treat with this laser, it really changes their lives,” said Jonathan Bock, MD, Medical College of Wisconsin otolaryngologist. “These are patients with problems that often recur. In the past, they needed to come in every two to three months and spend an entire day here for surgery. We can now treat these patients in about 15 minutes, and they can go right back to work.”
Drs. Blumin and Bock have advanced training using the new laser.
Source: Froedtert Today Date: January 2010 Issue |
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