Outpatient-based injection laryngoplasty for the management of unilateral vocal fold paralysis - clinical outcomes from a UK centre.

OBJECTIVE: To assess voice outcomes in patients undergoing vocal fold injection (VFI) augmentation laryngoplasty in a clinic-based setting.

METHODS: A prospective study of patients with unilateral vocal cord palsy undergoing Radiesse(®) vocal cord augmentation. We used the ten-item voice handicap index (VHI-10) as a postal survey before and after the intervention.

RESULTS: A total of 43 patients were referred to our ENT clinic from June 2011 to October 2014 with unilateral vocal cord palsy. The majority were referred from the oncology department with mediastinal tumours. Fifteen patients died of malignant disease. Twenty-one patients responded to our survey. VHI-10 scores were analysed using one-way analysis of variance (anova), and the results suggest a sustained improvement before and after the intervention (pre-injection versus 3 months post-injection P < 0.01; pre-injection versus 6 months post-injection P < 0.033).

CONCLUSION: This is the largest case series of patients who had a local anaesthetic vocal cord injection with calcium hydroxylapaptite using the trans-thyrohyoid approach. Early data would suggest that the results are similar to injections performed under general anaesthesia when performed by an experienced laryngologist. VFI in a clinic-based (awake) setting has the distinct advantage of providing instant feedback of vocal fold closure and voice outcome during the procedure, avoiding general anaesthesia with its inherent risks and cost and also the limitations of difficult exposure.