Results of carbon dioxide laser-assisted posterior cordotomy in cases of bilateral vocal cord paralysis: An analysis of 34 casest.

ABSTRACT

Carbon dioxide laser-assisted posterior cordotomy (LAPC) is an effective technique for the treatment of Bilateral Vocal Cord Paralysis (BVCP). For our case series we included 34 patients of BVCP from combined military hospitals of Rawalpindi, Lahore, Malir and Quetta and compiled the results of carbon dioxide LAPC which they underwent under general anesthesia between December 2009 to January 2017. Assessment of voice quality and breathing difficulty was carried out before and six weeks after the operation and graded according to scales. The complications after surgery were also noted. In the study, there were 10 (29.4%) males and 24 (70.6%) females. The mean age of the sample was 39.1 } 13.2 years. Overall, there was an improvement in breathing and mild worsening of voice quality after LAPC. The common complications after LAPC were dysphagia, revision surgery, and post-operative pain in 11.8%, 17.6%, and 17.6% respectively. The study concluded that carbon dioxide LAPC was associated with an improvement in breathing but resulted in a poor voice quality among patients with BVCP, along with a few side effects.