A tracheo-oesophageal puncture (or tracheoesophageal puncture) is a surgically created hole between the trachea (windpipe) and the esophagus (the tubal pathway between the throat and the stomach) in a person who has had a total laryngectomy, a surgery where the larynx (voice box) is removed. The purpose of the puncture is to restore a person’s ability to speak after the vocal cords have been removed. This involves creation of a fistula between trachea and oesophagus, puncturing the short segment of tissue or “common wall” that typically separates these two structures...