Isolated cricoid cartilage fractures are extremely rare. Usually, the thyroid cartilage and other larynx tissues are also damaged in blunt trauma, causing narrowing of the upper airway. We describe a case of isolated cricoid cartilage fracture with only hoarseness and no respiratory symptoms in which we performed laryngeal framework surgery.
The patient was a 33-year-old woman with no significant medical history. She was bruised her neck and fractured her cricoid cartilage. Although there was mild dyspnea after the injury, it improved quickly, and only hoarseness remained. At three months after the injury, the patient was referred to our hospital for the treatment of hoarseness. CT showed isolated cricoid cartilage fracture and displacement of the cricoarytenoid joint, which was thought to be the cause of the hoarseness.
In the first surgery, we aimed to improve the hoarseness by moving the arytenoid cartilage without correcting the misalignment of the laryngeal framework. However, the hoarseness did not improve. Therefore, in the second surgery, the cricoid cartilage was divided to fundamentally correct the misalignment. This resulted in a dramatic improvement in the patient’s voice.
In the case of laryngeal trauma with scarring, radical surgery is necessary to improve the patient’s voice.
