Hoarseness Caused by Unilateral Vocal Fold Paralysis: How Long Should One Delay Phonosurgery?

We present a case of idiopathic right vocal fold paralysis which resolved completely 18 months after onset. Instead of using surgery to improve the hoarseness of our patient, our experience suggested that speech therapy might be effective. Although the voice can be improved by overadduction of the h...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Acta oto-laryngologica 2003-05, Vol.123 (4), p.555-556
Main Authors: Tsunoda, Koichi, Kikkawa, Yayoi Suzuki, Kumada, Masanobu, Higo, Ryusaburo, Tayama, Niro
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aged
Autologous Transplantation Of Fascia
Biological and medical sciences
Diseases of the upper aerodigestive tract
Ent and stomatology
Hoarseness - etiology
Humans
Male
Medical sciences
Non tumoral diseases
Otorhinolaryngology. Stomatology
Radiotherapy. Instrumental treatment. Physiotherapy. Reeducation. Rehabilitation, orthophony, crenotherapy. Diet therapy and various other treatments (general aspects)
Speech Therapy
Time Factors
Upper respiratory tract, upper alimentary tract, paranasal sinuses, salivary glands: diseases, semeiology
Vocal Cord Paralysis - complications
Vocal Cord Paralysis - surgery
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:We present a case of idiopathic right vocal fold paralysis which resolved completely 18 months after onset. Instead of using surgery to improve the hoarseness of our patient, our experience suggested that speech therapy might be effective. Although the voice can be improved by overadduction of the healthy vocal fold, as surgery is irreversible it is better to wait for 18 months after onset in case spontaneous recovery occurs. During this period, one should of course continue to investigate the origin of the paralysis.
ISSN:0001-6489
1651-2251
DOI:10.1080/0036554021000028114