Der Chirurg; Zeitschrift für alle Gebiete der operativen Medizen
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Since the phoniatrician H. Bauer described the first case of recurrent laryngeal nerve palsy most likely caused by intubation some 45 years ago, several case reports have been published. However, systematic analyses regarding the frequency of recurrent laryngeal nerve palsies due to intubation are scarce, and none of them has used the proper methods to demonstrate clearly that such a mechanism exists. ⋯ The differential diagnosis of postoperative recurrent laryngeal nerve palsy requires the use of specific tools which go beyond simple laryngoscopy and include stroboscopy as well as intra- and extralaryngeal electromyography. A partial palsy of recurrent laryngeal nerve due to intubation would be associated with severe dysphonia or aphonia, not with dyspnea because of the typical intermediate position of the paralyzed vocal folds with a normal electromyographic function of the cricothyroid muscle. The use of these methods to identify the nature of postoperative recurrent laryngeal nerve palsy is recommended in cases of regular intraoperative neuromonitoring but postoperatively impaired function of the vocal cords.