ObjectiveTo investigate the clinical efficacy of carbon dioxide (CO2) laser ablation in the treatment of laryngeal papilloma and analyze the relevant factors for recurrence. MethodsWe retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of 102 patients with laryngeal papilloma treated between February 2003 and October 2010 in our department. They were divided into the juvenile group (n=70) and adult group (n=32). Patients in both groups underwent microsurgery with CO2 laser ablation to remove the lesions under general anesthesia. During the process, we observed patients'site of lesions, recurrence time, the incidence of postoperative vocal adhesions, and the occurrence of malignancy. ResultsAll patients were followed up for 1 to 8 years. Eleven cases of vocal cord adhesion occurred, and patients with the adhesion all had former joint lesions, which accounted for 27.5% of all the anterior commissure adhesion patients. Four cases of malignancy all occurred in adults with an adult malignancy rate of 12.5%. Recurrence occurred in 41 cases and 76 cases of times, including 5 times in 2 cases, 4 times in 4 cases, 3 times in 3 cases, twice in 9 cases, and once in 23 cases. The difference in times of recurrence was significant between the juvenile and the adult group (P<0.05). Significant difference was found between single lesion and multiple lesion recurrence in both groups (P<0.05). There was no significant difference between the two groups in terms of single lesion recurrence (P>0.05), while the difference in multiple lesion occurrence was significant (P<0.05). The first recurrence time was within 12 months after surgery in both groups, and recurrence mainly occurred within 6 months after surgery. Single lesion and multiple lesion recurrence mainly manifested as anterior commissure lesions (2/3, 66.7%) and subglottic lesions (5/6, 83.3%) respectively. ConclusionMicro-laryngoscopy CO2 laser laryngeal papilloma resection is safe, effective, and minimally invasive in the treatment of laryngeal papilloma, and is the preferred surgical method in clinic, but it still needs further improvement.