IT HAS been roughly estimated that injuries of the larynx comprise about 1 per cent of military casualties, a figure which is probably too low, since most injuries of the neck are tabulated as such without any specific description of the type or the location. Many laryngeal injuries are diagnosed as multiple cervical injuries and consequently cannot be included in statistics of laryngeal injury. These mistakes are usually not corrected later—for, unfortunately, many of these wounds are fatal. Regardless of the low percentage of laryngeal injuries, they present one of the more serious forms of battle casualties not only from the aspect of immediate loss of life but also from the standpoint of repair of the larynx and rehabilitation of the patient.
Peacetime injuries of the larynx are rare and in the main differ greatly from wartime injuries. They usually result from industrial accidents, criminal attacks or suicidal attempts, either