CLINICO-ETIOLOGICAL SKETCH OF VOCAL CORD PALSY

OBJECTIVE: To determine clinical features and causesof vocal cord paralysis in our set up.MATERIALAND METHODS: This descriptive study was conducted in the department of ENT, Head &Neck Surgery, Hayat Abad Medical complex, Peshawar from January 2010 to December 2012. All newlydiagnosed patients of any age and either gender included. After enrollment a detailed history was taken,thorough ENT and systemic examination was conducted especially focusing on the causes of vocal cordpalsy. After routine investigation endoscopic examination of the upper aero-digestive tract was carried outto establish the diagnosis and causes of vocal cord paralysis.All these patients were followed regularly.Thedata was collected on a pre-designed proforma and analyzed using SPSS version 15.RESULTS: We studied 90 patients over a period of 3 years (2010-2012). Males outnumbered (n-60) withmale to female ratio of 2:1. These patients were in age range of 6-85 years with mean age of 47.33 ± SD21.15 years. The commonest presentation was change of voice (100%). Majority of the patients (n-52,57.77%) were non smoker. Hoarseness was the dominant (94.44%) presentation of these patients. Thecommonest causes of vocal cord palsy was idiopathic (34.44%) followed by thyroid surgery (21.11%). Leftvocal cord palsy was the commonest finding.CONCLUSION: We concluded from this study that vocal cord paralysis is still a challenge for ENTsurgeon. Although in our study idiopathic cause of vocal cord palsy was on top but thyroidectomy has greatcontribution to vocal cord paralysis which can be further minimized if surgeon gives some time to identifythe recurrent laryngeal nerve during thyroid surgery.KEY WORDS: Vocal cord palsy, vocal fold paralysis, hoarseness, clinical feature, etiology