Lipoinjection for unilateral vocal cord paralysis

Injection of Teflon paste is a commonly accepted procedure to improve the caliber of voice in unilateral vocal cord paralysis. There are several drawbacks to Teflon injection, among them respiratory obstruction (from overinjected Teflon) and unsatisfactory voice quality (Teflon causes stiffness of t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe Laryngoscope Vol. 101; no. 5; p. 465
Main Authors Mikaelian, D O, Lowry, L D, Sataloff, R T
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States 01.05.1991
Subjects
Abdominal Muscles
Adipose Tissue - transplantation
Aged
Female
Follow-Up Studies
Humans
Injections
Laryngoscopy
Male
Middle Aged
Vocal Cord Paralysis - physiopathology
Vocal Cord Paralysis - surgery
Vocal Cords - physiopathology
Vocal Cords - surgery
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Summary:Injection of Teflon paste is a commonly accepted procedure to improve the caliber of voice in unilateral vocal cord paralysis. There are several drawbacks to Teflon injection, among them respiratory obstruction (from overinjected Teflon) and unsatisfactory voice quality (Teflon causes stiffness of the vocal folds). This paper is a preliminary report on lipoinjection instead of Teflon injection into a paralyzed vocal fold. Fat appears to impart a soft bulkiness to the injected cord, while allowing it to retain its vibratory qualities. It is autologous material and can be retrieved if excessively overinjected. The fate of autologous fat injected into a paralyzed vocal cord remains unknown. Most of the literature on lipoinjection concerns repairs of depressed scars or breast augmentation. Our longest follow-up has been 12 months. Three patients have had this procedure, and the results appear to be very encouraging.
ISSN:0023-852X
DOI:10.1288/00005537-199105000-00003