Benefits and risks

Information for the public

When NICE looked at the evidence, it decided that this procedure is safe enough and works well enough for use in the NHS. The 7 studies that NICE looked at involved a total of 728 patients.

Generally, they showed that:

About the same number of people were still alive after 5 years when treated with transoral carbon dioxide laser surgery as with electrocautery (in which the tumour is removed using electrical energy).
Survival rates were improved by patients having radiotherapy after the procedure.
Three out of 69 patients in 1 study had their disease come back after slightly less than 2 years.

The studies showed that the risks of transoral carbon dioxide laser surgery included:

bleeding in the first week after the procedure (including 1 death from severe bleeding)
severe difficulty swallowing, and food or liquid going down the wrong way, which can cause choking and chest infections
the airway becoming blocked during the procedure, which needed surgery
the need to have a permanent or temporary tracheostomy (a hole through the neck into the windpipe) to breathe
nerve damage.

If you want to know more about the studies see the guidance. Ask your health professional to explain anything you don't understand.