2013 Volume 64 Issue 3 Pages 206-211
We experienced a case of interarytenoid adhesion after tracheal intubation. A 39-year-old woman was intubated due to anaphylactic shock. Eight days later, laryngoscopy showed granulomas of the vocal processes and bilateral vocal cord paralysis, and as a result tracheostomy was performed 15 days after the intubation. Approximately 1.5 months later, interarytenoid adhesion was found. When the vocal cords were abducted, the adhesion was pulled;therefore we assumed that the vocal cords would not adhere again only by excising the adhesion. Under general anesthesia, the adhesion was excised. Vocal cord mobility improved and 1 month after the operation the tracheostoma was closed.
We assume that the cause of vocal cord palsy was recurrent nerve paralysis or inflammation of the cricoarytenoid joint because the palsy recovered naturally. We suppose that the vocal cords adhered around the granulations, since glottic stenosis owing to disorder of vocal cord movement and granulation of vocal cords existed simultaneously.
