How we do it: use of a venous cannulation needle for endoscopic Teflon injection to the vocal folds

• Published in: Journal of laryngology and otology 1995-12, Vol.109 (12), p.1184-1185
• Main Authors: Strachan, David, Kamath, Basker, Wengraf, Carol
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Biological and medical sciences; Catheterization, Central Venous - instrumentation; Head and neck surgery. Maxillofacial surgery. Dental surgery. Orthodontics; Humans; Injections, Intralesional; Laryngoscopy; Medical sciences; Needles; Polytetrafluoroethylene; Polytetrafluoroethylene - administration & dosage; Short Communication; Surgery (general aspects). Transplantations, organ and tissue grafts. Graft diseases; Surgery of the upper aerodigestive tract; Vocal Cord Paralysis - therapy; Vocal fold paralysis
• ISSN: 0022-2151; 1748-5460
• DOI: 10.1017/S0022215100132384

Since its introduction in the 1960's the injection of Teflon into a paralysed vocal fold has become a standard treatment in laryngology. Although in recent years alternative treatments have been suggested, such as the injection of collagen or autogenous fat (Mikaelian et al., 1991), re-innervation procedures and thyroplasty (Crumley, 1990), the use of Teflon is still widespread (Rontal and Rontal, 1991; Dedo, 1992). Various instruments have been developed for the application of Teflon paste and these take the form of a gun-like syringe with a ratchet mechanism. For a number of years we have injected Teflon using a needle marketed for internal jugular vein cannulation along with a plastic 1 ml syringe thus making substantial savings to our department in terms of both time and cost.