[Therapeutic approach to postoperative dysphonia following thyroid gland surgery]

The recurrent nerve palsy, which is frequently expressed clinically by postsurgical dysphonia is quite often a complication in the thyroid surgery. The choice of therapeutic behaviour is based on the assessment of the clinical condition of the patient, in other words, whether the dysphonia is accompanied by dyspnoea or not. 32 patients with postsurgical dysphonias are included in the survey. All patients were operated for thyroid disease in the Clinic of Endocrine Surgery between August 1996 until May 1998 and surveyed for a follow-up period of 3 to 21 months. The analysis of the results shows that the conservative treatment is appropriate for patients with functionally well compensated dysphonias, whereas the existence of high-level dyspnoea, whose morphologic substratum is most frequently a bilateral recurrent nerve palsy with median position of the vocal folds, necessitates surgical treatment.