Potentiol of Electrical Laryngeal Pacing in Unilateral Vocal Cord Paralysis

Abstract

To date there has not been wide spread adoption of anastomosis and neuromuscular pedicle transplantation for the restoration of dynamic function to the paralyzed vocal fold. Recently, electrical stimulation of the paralyzed muscle (PACING) has been reported as a means of restoring dynamic function in cases of laryngeal paralysis. The present paper reports the use of this PACING procedure in five adult canines. Triggered by the signals from the cricothyroid muscle, electrical stimulation resulted in bilateral vocal fold synchrony for phonatory adduction. The data suggests that electrical stimulation is a promising treatment for unilateral recurrent laryngeal nerve palsy. Discussion of potential problems incurred with long-term implantation, and advantages of miniaturization of the electrical stimulation apparatus are also included in this paper.