Office-Based Blue Laser Therapy vs Thulium Laser Therapy for Reinke's Edema.

Objective: To compare the treatment outcomes of patients with Reinke's edema (RE) who were treated in-office using the blue laser vs those treated in-office using the thulium laser.

Study design: Retrospective case-control study.

Methods: The medical records and video recordings of patients who underwent office-based thulium laser therapy for RE between November 2018 and July 2019, and office-based blue laser therapy for RE between November 2023 and March 2024 in a tertiary referral center were reviewed. The primary outcome measures used in this study were the Voice Handicap Index-10 (VHI-10) score and disease regression based on the laryngeal examination performed before and after therapy.

Results: Twenty-two patients were included in this study. They were divided into 2 subgroups, 12 patients with 22 lesions who underwent office-based thulium therapy and 10 patients with 17 lesions who underwent office-based blue laser therapy. There was no significant difference in the decrease in the mean VHI-10 score following surgery between those treated with the thulium laser vs those treated with the blue laser (10.5 ± 13.15 vs 8.2 ± 5.98, P = 0.657). Nine out of 22 lesions (40.9%) treated with thulium laser regressed completely compared to 9 out of 17 lesions (52.9%) treated with a blue laser. The difference in disease regression between the two subgroups was not statistically significant (P = 0.455).

Conclusions: Blue laser and thulium laser can be used interchangeably in-office for the treatment of RE with no significant difference in patient self-perceived improvement in voice quality and disease regression. A larger study using objective measures is warranted.