We conducted a retrospective review of the medical records of vocal fold paralysis (VFP) patients between January 2016 and April 2018 at the ENT outpatient clinic of Tohoku University Hospital and evaluated the patient characteristics, the causes of VFP, and the prognosis. A total of 168 VFP patients (104 men, 64 women) were enrolled in this study. One hundred and seven (63.7%) left, 37 (22.0%) right, and 24 (14.3%) bilateral vocal folds were impaired. The main causes of VFP were neoplastic disease (65 patients), cardiovascular disease (44 patients), idiopathic (21 patients), and intubation (16 patients). Thirty-two patients exhibited recovery from the VFP during the follow-up period, and 30 of those (93.8%) had recovered within 6 months from the onset. The recovery rate varied considerably for each cause of the VFP. We performed 37 framework surgeries to improve the voice quality of unilateral VFP patients. In the future, a greater number of early interventions for unilateral VFP, such as injection laryngoplasty or voice treatment, will be needed at the ENT outpatient clinic.
