Clinical study of dysphagia in vocal cord paralysis in an otolaryngology clinic with systemic computed tomography and remote diagnostic imaging

Abstract

A statistical clinical study was conducted on 138 patients diagnosed with vocal cord palsy at our hospital between August 2008 and April 2024. There were 29 (21.0%) postoperative, 60 (43.5%) non-postoperative, and 49 (35.5%) idiopathic cases. Among the 123 unilateral paralysis cases, the main complaints included dysphagia in 28 cases (20.3%), dyspnea in 9 cases (7.3%), and other symptoms in 86 cases (70.0%). Among the 15 bilateral paralysis cases, 7 (46.7%) experienced dyspnea, 2 (13.3%) had dysphagia, and 6 (40.0%) had other symptoms. The incidence of dysphagia tended to be higher in cases of unilateral paralysis, but there was no significant difference from bilateral cases in the development of dysphagia. However, dyspnea was significantly more common in patients with bilateral paralysis than in those with unilateral paralysis (p < 0.01). Immediate cervicothoracic computed tomography was performed in 45 patients with first-episode vocal cord palsy. Eleven cases (24.4%) were considered to have diseases requiring urgent care. Cervicothoracic computed tomography should be performed aggressively in cases of initial episodes of vocal cord paralysis.