Lviv otolaryngologists have assisted a 14-year-old local boy in regaining his ability to breathe and speak freely.

Otolaryngologists at the Children's Medicine Center (Okhmatdyt Hospital) in collaboration with leading European pediatric otolaryngologist Professor Yaroslav Shydlovskyi performed a unique surgery on a 14-year-old boy from Lviv, who was diagnosed with total scar stenosis of the larynx and trachea, making it difficult for him to breathe and speak. According to the doctors, this type of surgery was performed for the first time in western Ukraine, and possibly for the first time in the entire country.

14-year-old Tadej has Down syndrome. When he was born, he was intubated to help him breathe, which involved placing a special tube. As explained by Fedir Yurochko, head of the Children's Otolaryngology Clinic at the center, it is very rare, but sometimes a scar can form when the tube is in the larynx. This is exactly what happened to the boy. The formed scar severely narrowed the airway space.

In the summer of 2023, the boy visited a dentist for routine treatment that was to be done under general anesthesia. The doctor was unable to intubate the teenager and recommended a consultation with an otolaryngologist. During the examination, specialists at Okhmatdyt discovered the scar stenosis of the larynx and trachea, which made natural breathing impossible, reported the center.

To help the patient breathe freely, a team of otolaryngologists, anesthesiologists, and resuscitation specialists conducted a series of complex surgical interventions. The doctors attempted various methods to expand the airway space. For some time, the boy breathed through a tracheostomy (a special tube), but it hindered his ability to speak and eat. Therefore, to assist the boy in overcoming this issue, in September 2024, Lviv otolaryngologists, together with Professor Yaroslav Shydlovskyi from Poznań, performed a unique operation on Tadej – a laryngotracheal resection with plastic surgery, and in January 2025, the boy underwent a final procedure.

It is worth noting that Professor Yaroslav Shydlovskyi is the head of the Children's Otolaryngology Clinic in Poznań, which ranks among the top five pediatric otolaryngology clinics in Europe. He possesses unique techniques that he uses during surgeries on children with highly complex congenital and acquired defects, and he gladly shares his experience with his colleagues in Lviv. The collaboration between the professor and Lviv otolaryngologists has been ongoing for nearly 10 years.

The outcome of the unique surgery brought joy to both the doctors and the patient and his family: Tadej is no longer dependent on the tracheostomy, breathes independently, and speaks freely.

“During the operation, we excised the affected, scarred portion of the larynx and trachea, and then brought and stitched the tubes together: the laryngeal tube and the tracheal tube, to ensure a good lumen for breathing. This is a unique operation. In the western part of the country, this is the first such complex intervention, and possibly in all of Ukraine,” says Fedir Yurochko.

During treatment, the boy quickly began to grow. From September 2024 to the present, Tadej has already grown 7 cm. The doctors believe this may be related to the elimination of chronic hypoxia.

“The main thing is that Tadej has started to speak. For a child with such a diagnosis and a tracheostomy tube, this is very difficult. When he had scar stenosis, he could not speak at all. The child suffered from constant oxygen deprivation (hypoxia), which is why he ate poorly and was not growing,” says Fedir Yurochko.

Now, Tadej is scheduled for dental treatment under general anesthesia, but this time the specialists will not be worried about the patient's breathing.