Abstract
Acid reflux and mucosal injury of the larynx, caused by vocal abuse, chronic cough and intratracheal intubation, may be involved in the development of laryngeal granuloma. However, the mechanism is unclear. An experimental rat model of gastro-esophageal reflux disease (GERD) was surgically created, and used to observe the histological changes of the laryngeal mucosa. However, no laryngeal granuloma had developed 20 weeks after surgery. This study developed an experimental laryngeal granuloma by mechanical injury to the vocal cord mucosa of the rat GERD model.
A plastic bar was inserted into the trachea of a GERD rat model, and moved up and down three times in three seconds, to mechanically injure the vocal cord mucosa. A granuloma was observed in the vocal cord mucosa of the rat after two weeks of the surgery, and this presented the same pathological structure as the human laryngeal granuloma. The current results showed both mechanical injury and acid reflux was involved in the development of a laryngeal granuloma.
