2002 Volume 53 Issue 2 Pages 119-123
In our department, 55 patients with bilateral vocal cord paralysis accounted for 9.8% of all cases of vocal cord paralysis between 1988 and 2000. The cause of the paralysis was non-surgical in 38 patients (idiopathic in 12, intracranial or nervous diseases in 8, trauma in 5, esophagus cancer in 4, lung cancer in 3, thyroid cancer in 2 and others), whereas the paralysis in 17 patients was due to surgical operations (esophageal surgery in 7, endotracheal intubation in 4, cardiovascular surgery in 2 and others). As for treatment, we performed a lateralization of the vocal cord (Ejnell's operation) in 8 patients, and a tracheostomy in 26 patients.
Recently, we performed a new technique for the lateralization of the vocal cord using an endo-extralaryngeal needle carrier developed by Lichtenberger and obtained good results. The advantages of this technique, in addition to the advantage of the Ejnell's operation, are as follows: (1) it is easy to arrange a thread in the proper position because the needle is inserted into the larynx via a direct laryngoscope with a microscope. (2) There is little invasion, because the thyroid cartilage is not exposed. Thus, this technique will continue to be very useful for lateralization of the vocal cord.
