Glottic Closing Pressure During Deglutition in Recurrent Laryngeal Nerve Paralysis

Abstract

The glottic incompetence caused by recurrent laryngeal paralysis results in not only voice problem but also occasional aspiration. Injections of silicon or collagen have been effectively used to improve the voice of paralysis cases. A transcutaneous intrafold injection technique in which the needle is inserted into the vocal fold through the thyroid lamina under fiberoptic monitoring has been employed in our clinic. There have been few reports on the effect of intrafold injection upon aspiration. In the present study, we measured the glottic closing pressure during swallowing in 12 normal cats and 19 cats with recurrent laryngeal nerve paralysis. In paralytic animals, measurements were conducted before and after silicon injection. A micro-tip catheter pressure transducer (Model PC-330, Micro-Tip, Miller Co. Ltd.) was employed. The results indicate that silicon injection can increase the glottic closing pressure up to the level enough to avoid aspiration.