Traction of Lateral Cricoaryienoid Muscle for Unilateral Vocal Fold Paralysis

Abstract

We performed arytenoid adduction by pulling the lateral cricoarytenoid muscle (Iwamura) for unilateral vocal fold paralysis. The detailed proeedures of the operation and results are described. The subjects were 21 patients whose maximal phona-tion time (MPT) were under 9 seconds. Fourteen among the 21 patients had thyroplasty type I as an adjunct to the arytenoid adduction, Sixteen patients (76%) were able to extend their MPT beyond 10 seconds, which could stand comparison with Isshiki's original tech-nique for adduction.