Abstract
Reinnervation of recurrent laryngeal nerve was performed on 8 cases with unilateral vocal fold paralysis. The period of paralysis was from 7 months to 8 years. Fixation of the vocal fold within an intermediate section and severe atrophy were observed in all 8 cases preoperatively. The preoperative maximum phonation time (MPT) was from 0 to 6.1 seconds (the median was 2.2 seconds). All cases underwent anastomosis from the ansa cervicalis to the recurrent laryngeal nerve. Disposition of the paralyzed vocal fold in the paramedian portion was observed in 5 cases, and improvement of vocal fold atrophy was observed in 7 cases. There was improvement of MPT in all 8 cases postoperatively, which then ranged from 6.6 to 24.1 seconds(the median was 13.5 seconds). We considered the indications of reinnervation to be the preservation of distal stamp for the recurrent laryngeal nerve and a good prognosis to be at least 6 months. Reinnervation of the recurrent laryngeal nerve is useful for treating unilateral vocal fold paralysis.
