Recurrent Laryngeal Nerve Palsy Due to Non-surgical Trauma of the Neck

-A Case Report-

Abstract

A 37-year-old male patient was stabbed in the neck adjacent to the thyroid cartilage with a kitchen knife, a broken fragment of which remained in the vertebra behind the hypopharynx. He grew hoarse after the accident, and two months later he started to feel dizzy when speaking. The laryngoscopic examination showed immobility and atrophy of the left vocal fold with overcrossing of the right fold. Blood
gas examination revealed that the dizziness was due mainly to respiratory alkalosis caused by hyperventilation while speaking. Six months later Meurman's operation was performed. Postoperatively dizziness disappeared and phonation time, the blood gas levels and the sound spectrographic findings improved.
Dizziness is a rare chief complaint in patients with recurrent laryngeal nerve palsy, but we should be aware of the possibility.