Although transoral laser surgery (TLS) for the treatment of early stage glottic carcinoma is now widely used, the patterns of local recurrences, related re-treatment methods, and results have not been documented comprehensively. Two hundred fifty-two patients with glottic carcinoma stage I or II were treated for cure with TLS alone and followed up for 24 to 139 months (mean, 62 months). Their charts were retrospectively reviewed to identify local recurrence patterns. Thirty-five patients (13.9%) presented with local recurrences or second laryngeal primaries 4 to 84 months (mean, 23 months) after initial treatment. Of the 161 patients classified T1N0M0, 21 (13.0%) suffered local recurrences, and in the 91 classified T2N0M0, 14 (15.4%) tumors recurred. If tumors recurring more than 60 months after initial treatment are considered second primary tumors rather than recurrences, then only 18 (11.2%) of 161 patients classified T1N0M0 would have had a recurrence. However, the difference in local control between patients with stage I versus stage II disease would still not be significant (p = .41). Of the 35 patients with local recurrences, 16 (45%) were managed with total laryngectomy, 10 (28.6%) with further TLS, 4 (11.4%) with partial laryngectomy, and 2 (5.7%) with radiotherapy, and 3 (8.6%) had no curative treatment. Accordingly, 16 patients (45.7%) with local treatment failure could be treated with further organ-sparing treatment methods. The actuarial overall survival, disease-specific survival, and organ preservation rates 5 years after the diagnosis of recurrent disease were 43.6%, 74.6%, and 33.7%. Transoral laser surgery leads to local control rates that are comparable to those found after radiotherapy for lesions classified T1 and leads to slightly better control rates for lesions classified T2, but the results are inferior to those achieved with conventional partial laryngectomy. However, if local recurrence occurs, then more re-treatment options are available after TLS as compared to initial radiotherapy or open surgery.