Carbon dioxide laser surgery of the tongue base

Abstract

Surgery for benign lesions at the tongue base has, to date, been limited, and little attention has been paid to lingual tonsillitis and lingual tonsil hypertrophy. One of the reasons for this has been an unsatisfactory surgical technique with a significant morbidity. Fifteen patients treated with the carbon dioxide laser for lesions at the tongue base are presented in this paper to show that this surgical technique offers advantages to both the surgeon and the patients.