Discussion
Although angled telescopes and curved instrumentation may help overcome
challenges of difficult laryngeal access, we found that the flexible
biopsy forceps loaded down the lumen of a bougie is a useful adjunct for
more challenging cases. They are also readily available in most
hospitals. When using the flexible biopsy forceps alone, it was found
that there was not enough rigidity and guidance and the jaws often
missed the lesion. The bougie technique offers the rigidity needed and
as the plastic has memory, it will stay in the position required to
access difficult areas to obtain adequate samples needed for
histological diagnosis.