Mouth and throat conditions can affect basic functions like breathing, swallowing, and speaking. Common issues include bacterial infections, abscesses, tumors, airway narrowing, and sleep apnea symptoms.
WMCHealth’s Advanced ENT Services team uses the latest technology to diagnose and treat these conditions. With minimally invasive options and a team of specialists working together, we help you find relief.
Types of Mouth and Throat Surgeries and Procedures
Your custom treatment plan depends on your diagnosis. If other treatments haven’t worked, your doctor may recommend surgery or additional medical procedures.
Endoscopic Procedures
Your doctor may use an endoscope, a thin tube with a camera, to look inside your throat and guide treatment. These minimally invasive procedures can help diagnose conditions or remove foreign objects and small growths:
- Bronchoscopy
- Esophagoscopy
- Direct laryngoscopy
Removal Procedures
If you have a tumor, cyst, or mass, your surgeon may recommend removing it. This type of surgery is carefully planned to take out the growth while protecting as much healthy tissue as possible.
Drainage Procedures
Sometimes an untreated bacterial infection can lead to an abscess in your throat. In many cases, antibiotics are enough to clear the infection. If your abscess is more severe, your surgeon may drain it to relieve pressure, reduce swelling, and ease your pain.
Airway-Expanding Procedures
If your airway is too narrow, you may have trouble breathing or sleeping comfortably. Your surgeon can use procedures such as tonsillectomy, uvulopalatopharyngoplasty, or subglottic/tracheal dilation to help. These treatments create more space in your airway, allowing you to breathe easier and get better rest.
Vocal Cord Surgery
If you experience ongoing voice problems, your doctor may recommend surgery on your vocal cords. These procedures can diagnose the cause and repair issues that affect your ability to speak. The goal is to help restore your natural voice so you can communicate more clearly in daily life.
Transoral Laser Microsurgery
Your surgeon may use transoral laser microsurgery, which involves guiding a laser through an endoscope to remove a lesion or mass. Unlike traditional surgical instruments, the laser allows for very precise treatment and often causes less damage to nearby healthy tissue. This means your surgeon can target the problem area while better preserving normal function.
Free Flap Reconstruction
If you need reconstruction after cancer, trauma, or a congenital condition, your surgeon may recommend free flap surgery. In these situations, tissue may have been removed during tumor surgery or damaged by injury or abnormal development. Using a microscope, your surgeon reconnects blood vessels so the transplanted tissue stays alive, helping restore both function and appearance in the affected area.
Transoral Robotic-Assisted Surgery: An Advanced Option for Throat Tumors
At WMCHealth, we use transoral robotic-assisted surgery to give you access to treatments once considered too complex. This minimally invasive approach lets surgeons remove tumors in your tonsils, base of your tongue, or back of your throat without making large external incisions.
For you, that means less pain, less scarring, and a faster recovery. This technology also helps protect important functions, like your ability to speak and swallow, that may be affected by traditional surgery.
Since its FDA approval in 2009, robotic-assisted surgery has transformed ENT care. You can receive advanced treatment with the expertise of an academic medical center, without traveling far.