Arytenoid Adduction and Thyroplasty on 22 Cases of Unilateral Vocal Cord Paralysis

This study was performed to compare postoperative results of thyroplasty typeI and arytenoid adduction, which were recent phonosurgical procedures for the management of unilateral vocal cord paralysis.

Twenty-two cases of unilateral vocal cord paralysis with several etiologies were managed with thyroplasty typeI and/or arytenoid adduction. The subjective and MPT(maximum phonation time) improvements after those procedures were compared statistically.

The cause of paralysis were idiopathic(7 cases), thoracic lesion(6 cases) thyroidectomy(3 cases), neck mass excision(3 cases), neck trauma(2 cases) and diphtheria(case). The left side(15 cases) was paralyzed more frequently than the right(7 cases). There were significant increase(p=0.006) in MPT from 4 seconds preoperatively to 6 seconds postoperatively in thyrolasty cases, and also significant increase(p=0.014) from 5 seconds to 10.5 seconds in arytenoid adduction cases. Better result were observed in subjective improvement and MPT(p=0.0011) with arytenoid adduction. There was no significant complication.

Both arytenoid adduction and thyroplasty were effective and safe phonosurgical procedures for unilateral vocal cord paralysis. Better results were observed in arytenoid add-uction cases.