Journal of voice : official journal of the Voice Foundation
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Case Reports
Neurogenic vocal fold motion impairment after routine intubation for tonsillectomy in a pediatric patient.
Vocal fold motion impairment is a rare complication of general anesthesia and is more common in older patients undergoing longer duration of anesthesia. We present a case of recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) axonotmesis in a 16-year-old patient undergoing general anesthesia for tonsillectomy. ⋯ This case demonstrates RLN axonotmesis after brief routine intubation. The presumed mechanism of injury is compression of the nerve between the thyroid cartilage and the arytenoid or cricoid cartilage. The use of an oral RAE endotracheal tube may have contributed to the injury owing to the short distance between the bend of the tube and the cuff, placing the cuff at a higher level within the airway.
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To characterize the voice and vocal fold function of an individual, it is essential to evaluate vocal fold vibration. The most widely used method for this purpose has been videolaryngoscopy. ⋯ The combination of the high-speed technology with the proposed method improves the vocal fold analysis given a numerical feedback through graphical representation of the real vibratory patterns of the folds.