Thyroplasty under general anesthesia using a laryngeal mask airway and fibreoptic bronchoscope

To report the management of a patient, with unilateral vocal cord paralysis, undergoing thyroplasty, under general anesthesia.

A 25-yr-old man developed hoarseness and occasional episodes of pulmonary aspiration, caused by unilateral vocal cord paralysis. He was scheduled for thyroplasty, in an attempt to ease phonation and to decrease or prevent further episodes of pulmonary aspiration. He refused local anesthesia with sedation and it was therefore decided to attempt the procedure under general anesthesia. The paralysed vocal cord was displaced inwards by a wedge inserted through a window in the thyroid cartilage. We assessed the ideal position of the wedge by using a fibreoptic bronchoscope and laryngeal mask airway during general anesthesia, instead of phonation.

We describe the successful use of a general anesthetic for a thyroplasty, a procedure normally done under local anesthesia with or without sedation, in a patient who was keen to have surgery, but who refused local anesthesia with sedation.